“Cartoon is a business of pleasure”

Cartoonist Mustafa Tozakı was the guest of the fourth of the Communication Days event series organized by the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the European University of Lefke. In the interactive event, Mustafa Tozakı shared the cartoons he drew and commented on the meanings of the participants. Adding color to the event by drawing the online portraits of the participants, Mustafa Tozakı also evaluated the illustrations drawn by the students of the Faculty of Communication Sciences Visual Communication Design.

In his speech, Tozakı stated that he started his caricature life in the first grade of primary school with stickman drawings and continued with portraits and cartoons, and that he started to make professional money with his drawings in 1982.

Noting that he drew portraits at cultural events and festivals he was invited to, but the pleasure he got from daily caricature drawings was another, Tozakı also touched on the press caricature in his speech. Mustafa Tozakı said, “You enter the newspaper, you have a very limited time of 5-10 minutes. And in this limited time, you need to make a caricature suitable for the agenda over the news headlines that will be published in the newspaper ”.

Emphasizing that unlike universal cartoons without writing, the use of writing in press cartoons cannot be avoided, caricaturist Mustafa Tozakı said that the absence of writing in universal cartoons is an element that makes it difficult to think, but the joy and meaning of press caricature is completely different. Stating that the message in the cartoon was given in a striking way, Tozakı said, “You can easily describe what is written in pages by drawing”.

In the speech, which also touched on the subject that cartoon is a very powerful weapon, Tozakı made two cartoons for the press; He stated that he received criticism due to the printing error caused by the fact that the cartoons were not fully scanned, but the misunderstanding was resolved upon seeing the original drawings, and said that “he did not encounter any negative criticism other than that, on the contrary, he was always greeted with a smile and attracted attention”.

With illustrators in other countries; Tozakı asked a question about what the differences are compared to cartoonists; “The economic development of the country and accordingly the cultural structures vary. Therefore, the structure of humor is also different… Our understanding is between the Middle East and Europe, it appeals to both sides, it is close. But when you go to the USA, when you go to Australia, the culture is very different… a situation arising from their lifestyles… Their jokes and cartoons are also different. For example, in Australia, a cartoon attack is accepted, so it has not developed, ”he said.

Tozakı concluded his words by saying “It is beautiful to share. It is useless to make it and keep it in the ballot box, ”and he emphasized the importance of young people sharing their own drawings and cartoons.

Born in 1957 in Lefke, cartoonist Mustafa Tozakı is a member of the Cyprus Turkish Cartoonists Association, the European Federation of Cartoonists’ Organizations and the Cyprus Representation of the Federation of Cartoonists Organizations. Tozakı has many awards won in national and international competitions. A large number of cartoons were published in the media, sports magazine Recordman, Kıbrıs Postası, Akrep, Yenidüzen, Vatan, Havadis, Yeni Akrep, Tantana magazines and newspapers.