Throughout his 53 years of artistic life, he was not only successful, but he also broke grounds in good starts. In 1967, he made his first live television broadcast. He became the first and only artist to play the leading role in three famous world classics. He has been the first artist to receive awards from the International Olympic Committee. Naturally, he also has the title to be the only one, who has represented his country the most in the international arena...

With Neco, who expresses himself not as an artist but as an "interpreter" and a "stage man", we enjoyed having a pleasant conversation about his philosophy of life.

Since childhood, I have been keen on history and sociology. I have also added etymology and religious sciences to these. These issues pose reason to connect nice things.

Because of my profession, I was recognised in public and I got the opportunity to make friends with different people. As a curious man who also makes good use of his democratic rights, I have made very close friendships with political people both inside and outside Turkey. I almost acted as a newspaper reporter as well as asking important people about important queries. Now I follow the next generation. I mean, I am a man of two generations that one has gone and one has come. I have preferred to speak to people rather than learning their thoughts. It does not mean that I have been the man, who danced to another tune. I have struggled with notable personages.

Let us get back to the main point. A person has two sides. The first one is self-directed, in that he needs to ask himself if he is dealing with the general culture, knowledge, art or science. The other one need to ask who he is, where he lives, what his beliefs are, the country he is a citizen of, what he is required to do... The person should define himself and where he lives in. Do we ask these questions to ourselves as a society or do we need to ask? There is also a third option. Are we not aware of anything as a society? All of these need to be considered to combine the art with the life. In Turkey, it primarily needs to be discussed that how the sense of art in the Turkish society has reached our day. As I had been an archivist, especially in the music department of TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation) for years, I accumulated many things, which had been said at the conversations and meetings. I saw how much we struggle with grasping the main point. We have never been organised at arts, culture, general knowledge and science to grasp them. As Mustafa Kemal Ataturk said, “One of the nation's lifeblood artless rests is cut off.”

Which one of them are us? Very interesting but we are the third one with nothing. Music and art are a phenomenon that happy communities can develop and can devote time to. I wonder when the Turkish society was a country that was democratic, liberal and in new discoveries. We are not artists who give concerts in public. We are just interpreters and entertainers. Today we correspond to the word "entertainer" in the world. Artists are painters, sculptors, great composers and many others who produce can be counted. You can be considered as an artist whether you are able to compose and be recorded. I am just an interpreter. For instance, Zeki Muren is considered to be a real artist. He is the greatest colour of Turkish stages ever and a magnificent artist. He has so many compositions, and today his compositions are still being interpreted. As the “Sun of Art”, he was a real artist with his unique chanting and stance.

I would like to tell you a memory of mine. Years ago, I had participated in a television show of the late Savas Ay as a guest. Kucuk Ibo (Ibo Junior) was also one of the guests. “How did you become an artist?” Savas Ay asked Ibo. “I compose beautifully” he answered. Then he asked again “How do you compose?” and Ibo answered, “By whistling.” I could not bear it and cried "I will give you a beating in front of everyone here, then you will whistle and sing together". What he said was an insult to the many real composers who grew up in Turkey. The programme's phone lines were blocked that day. Everything that is served today is imposed by the media empire. You consume whatever they give. A bad song is played fifty times a day. When it is the fifty-first time, you begin to accept it as a good song and commence listening to it. The essence of the Turkish nation is strong. By considering our culture, traditions and understanding, if we support the science and arts using our democratic rights and responsibilities and then we can establish a brand new system, it would bring the results in 25 years. It is called generation. We have to raise children so that we will teach them Turkish first. We will teach them history to be a society, which is strong and mutually trusting of each other. We will take them to Canakkale and Dumlupinar. We will tell them the history of Istanbul. We will tell them about the Turkish flag and Mustafa Kemal. We will raise individuals who first believe in themselves. In the meantime, we will create a peaceful Turkey. We will do it with our traditions and customs. We will produce, earn and share with the world. This is my dream.

Can we listen to a brief summary of your professional life?
Fifty three years filled with struggle have gone. In my first years, there were many qualified people in the profession. The qualified people were doing qualified works. The quality of the business changed with the introduction of the wrong people in the sector. All my life, I have done the works I wanted and like. I had days I felt sad. When I was the brightest, I had been through the days they did not give me a job, I could not buy any milk for my children. Despite all this, I have had a very beautiful art life. Everything I did was done with pleasure. I have got several prizes at home and abroad. In 1982, I represented the country with the song called “Hani” (Where) in the Eurovision Song Contest. Those were the years when Europeans did not like Turks at all. It is obvious what happened then. They earn millions just from the text messages. It turned into a competition, which completely tied its features and qualities to the economy. In our days, it was exciting and enjoyable. Then, I was in the position of a man with spiritual weapons who believed to represent the quality of the Turks abroad. A journalist asked me questions at a press conference in the UK competition. In those days, there was an island issue between Argentina and England and they were at war. A reporter asked me, “A very powerful navy is getting to the island. What if it would come to your country, Turkey?” I answered, “Kid, I guess you do not remember what happened in Canakkale. Then there was Churchill at the top of the fleet command. Look what happened!”, then everyone fell about the place.

Should we also mention your book?What are you telling us?
In my book, there are very big adventures, definitions of what I have been through and where I lived. The accumulation of 50 years is in the book. There are two revolutions, three memorandums, nine presidents, I know how many prime ministers, the bits of intelligence in those days and great events. Everything that the interpreter and the stage man called Neco have experienced is in the book. Moreover, there are beautiful pages where I self-criticise.

What would you like to say about Bodrum?
I am a person who knows Istanbul very well. I know the old Istanbul well. The city is not the city I used to know anymore. This is an uncomfortable situation that it is now impossible to live there. A new generation has grown up, people have migrated and this happened. Thus, I decided to live in Bodrum. After my decision to live here, I met my second wife. I have been in Bodrum for 14 years. I like its nature and clean air. The tranquillity of this town is turning its face more to nature and I am contented to be here.