By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Sinem Betul from Turkey
Photos = Hazan Aköz

The performance of BTS at Billboard Music Awards in May is solid evidence that K-pop has taken the whole world by storm. This visible part of an iceberg is carried by hard work, struggle, conflict, happiness and success of many people who try to be the One. When an adolescent hears K-pop, maybe BTS or Blackpink come to his/her mind, but for others who are older, it is definitely Super Junior, Girls Generation, TVXQ, Big Bang, 2NE1, Shinhwa, etc.

The Music Bank concert in Istanbul in 2013 proved that Turkish teenagers are also fascinated by K-pop. Cnblue, The Rose, Led Apple, Ft Island, Nuest and others visited Turkey and excited the crowds by their performances. As far as I know, there are fan clubs and they have organized many events. When Kim Jae-joong came to Ankara for a fan meeting, JYJ Turkey did a great job.

K-pop is not new in Turkey, but fans have a brand-new magazine just for them. The first edition was released by Dogan Egmont Publishing last March, and I had a chance to interview the chief editor of the magazine, Hazan Aköz.



- First of all, thank you for sparing time for us in your busy schedule, could you tell us more about Hazan Aköz?
You are welcome. I graduated from Ege University, Faculty of Communication in 2000. After my graduation I started to work at Hey Girl as the culture and art editor. For 11 years, I wrote articles and did interviews about music and cinema for teenagers. Then I became chief editor at Cosmo Girl and Cosmopolitan Bride and then Go Girl. Briefly, I worked for almost all the teen magazines in Turkey. And now we publish KPop&Drama magazine.

- KPop&Drama is the first ever magazine in Turkey that is about K-pop, so how did you start it?
We had known that Korean groups have been trending especially in the last five years. So when I was working at Go Girl, we prepared a file about K-pop groups. At that time, EXO and Girls Generation were in great demand and so we were giving detailed sections about them. Then fans started to request more and more articles. This crowd made us to think “Why not? We should give it a try to publish a new magazine just about K-Pop.”

- Individually, how did you meet K-pop?
It was Go Girl. Then, actually it was not suitable for my music taste, because I love rock music. And then, as I entered into the field deeply, I saw the incredible effort put forth by the successful groups. Thus they are already able to take over the whole world.

- What about KPop&Drama?
KPop&Drama was a first in Turkey, and as I know there are two more now. We are organizing the magazine the way the fans requested, reading all social media messages carefully. We follow what is popular in the Korean pop world. Fans have so much knowledge so articles should be written very carefully, they notice every single mistake easily (laughing). There are many things that can be in a teen magazine such as interviews, group introductions, tests, stickers, fashion, beauty, posters.
We release the magazine monthly—both in a regular issue and a special issue. For example, July’s special issue was about BTS. The subject of the special issue changes every two months, and we decided to keep this system, of course based on the fans’ requests.

- As much as I know, the number of fans is not a joke in Turkey, so is the interest in the magazine as you expected?
Yes, you are right, Korean Pop has a lot of fans and every edition of our magazine has had a second printing. Some of the fans say they cannot find the magazine. Obviously, I was guessing that they would like it but I did not expect that kind of interest. I'm a little bit surprised by that, but I'm very happy. Because it's a very nice feeling to be appreciated for what you do.

- As a magazine, are you planning to organize events, like a fan meeting with the artists?
The number of groups who come to Turkey, unfortunately, are not very many, but why not? In the following years, we can organize such events.

- What are your sociological observations, why do you think K-Pop and Korean culture are so popular?
The Korean government supports Korean Pop both financially and morally. They are also making great efforts to promote Korean culture and music. Korean pop music, a blend of American pop music and Japanese music, is actually a product with a very rich heritage. In addition, when the disciplined Eastern people come to play, breath-taking products come out. I also think that there is a stagnation in the pop music world in America. We do not see boy or girl groups there anymore. There has been no such development since the disbandment of One Direction. In addition, since Korean culture is so similar to our culture, in this sense, our young people are captured from their hearts. I think K-Pop will become more popular in Turkey.

- Do you have diplomatic or similar problems; does the Republic of Korea support the magazine?
No, we never had such problems. On the contrary, the Korean Consulate called us and asked if we can publish their activities in the magazine. We replied it “Of course, our pleasure”
  Again I would like to thank Hazan for sparing time for us. If you want to follow her online activities, you can click her personal pages http://hazanakoz.com and https://kpopturkiye.com

wisdom117@korea.kr

* This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.