Yunus Emre

Yunus Emre

1237 – 1319

Yunus Emre (juˈnus emˈɾe) (1238–1320) was a Turkish poet and Sufi mystic who greatly influenced Anatolian culture. His name, Yunus, is equivalent to the English name Jonas. He wrote in the Old Anatolian Turkish language, an early stage of modern Turkish. The UNESCO General Conference unanimously passed a resolution declaring 1991, the 750th anniversary of the poet's birth, "The International Yunus Emre Year".