Hero or traitor? Jon Gorvett reports from Istanbul on celebrations to mark the birth of Nazim Hikmet 100 years ago. Although few would deny his genius, the political controversy which surrounded him in life continues unabated. (Mosaic).

"Will my funeral start out from my courtyard? How will you get me down from the third floor? The coffin won't fit in the elevator, and the stairs are awfully narrow." ... Nazim Hikmet, My Funeral, Moscow April 1963.

A burial can be a tricky business, as Nazim Hikmet's words illustrate. As time passes, dealing with a hero from the `losing' side can pose many problems -- particularly when words are what the hero is famous for, and those words form such powerful, lyrical poetry.

A hundred years ago this winter, one of the world's greatest modern poets, Nazim Hikmet, was born in the then-Ottoman city of Thessalonika. His life -- much of it spent on the run, in prison, in fear of assassination, or, finally, in exile -- is being celebrated this year at a series of events around the globe. In January, one of these events was held at the Royal Festival Hall in London. There, a packed house witnessed a recital of some of Hikmet's best-known work in English, followed by a rapturous performance of the same in Turkish, sung and danced, as much as it was spoken, by Genco Erkal, one of Hikmet's greatest interpreters.

In Turkey, hardly a…