O'zan Sanli Şentürk
Journey from Ozan to O'zan
The meaning of O'zan
In Turkish, Ozan traditionally refers to a poet, a storyteller, or one who gives voice through words. Yet over time, my name took on a deeper meaning.
The apostrophe in O'zan is not a stylistic choice; it is a symbolic mark, recalling the saying of our Prophet Hz. Muhammed: "Die before you die."
"O" corresponds to the Arabic Hu (هو) and points to the Essence /Self (Dhāt) of Allah. It represents the third-person singular pronoun in Turkish. Its Arabic equivalent is Hu (هو), the Qur'anic pronoun that points to Allah.
In Arabic, the third-person singular pronoun is expressed according to gender. In Arabic, Hu (هو) refers to a specific masculine person or being and simply means "he." It describes a singular male person who is not present. It refers to a being or an abstract concept.
The apostrophe in O'zan is not a stylistic choice; it is a symbolic mark, recalling the saying of our Prophet: "Die before you die."
"O" corresponds to the Arabic Hu (هو) and points to the Essence (Dhāt) of Allah. When I read "Ozan" with emphasis placed on "O," the journey from Ozan to O'zan evolved into the process of realizing — from having assumed myself to exist — that I am, in truth, but a ẓann of "O."
This is not a new name; it is a symbolic expression of the journey I have lived.
Academic Background
Prof. Dr. Ozan Sanlı Şentürk is a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at Istanbul Technical University, with over 38 years of experience in inorganic and organometallic chemistry. His research focuses on next-generation post-metallocene catalysts, advanced engineering polyolefins, and sustainable high-performance thermoplastic materials. He completed his PhD jointly at the University of Reading and Ege University in 1996, followed by postdoctoral research at University College London in 1998 and a Visiting Research Fellowship at the National Research Council of Canada between 2002 and 2005. He has led major TÜBİTAK and Ministry of Industry supported projects, authored numerous scientific publications, supervised graduate students, and is the inventor of six national patents in advanced catalyst technologies for polyolefins.
Since 19 April 2001, he has pursued the Sufi path within the Halveti-Uşşaki Terzi Baba lineage, completing his nafs (soul) training and receiving the rank of Halife (successor) on 15 June 2022. He has been lecturing on Sufism since 2018.
Alongside this, he has studied astrology extensively since 2020, at the Faculty of Astrological Studies and other schools, where he got Certificate of the Faculty of Astrological Studies at June 2026.
Today, his work brings together chemistry, Tasavvuf (Sufism), Qur'anic studies and Sufi Astrology in a shared exploration of self-knowledge, the training of the nafs, and the development of self-awareness.
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