Bekir Coskun: This is our holiday

These are our holidays: April 23, October 29, May 19. Happy days of celebration for a country tired of war, for a country wanting to celebrate victory. These celebrations are the sounds of victory following a long lasting national struggle for life. This is why the bands will play today. This is why the drums, the songs, the marches will ring out today. Listen carefully. *But there is nothing to be done about the fact that people who don't like the republic won't like the celebrations for the republic's very being. They are not embarassed to stand in the corner and degrade our holiday. Look closely; they are celebrating alternative things today. They are saying things that decrease the significance of a day like today. Their faces are sour. They are not happy. They think the outfits for May 19 are not appropriate. They miss a different youth. They don't want a free, heartfelt, modern, knowledgeable youth. They don't like the ones who brought about the republic. And they can't stand the holidays filled with the victorious shouts of our Turkish Republic. *Which is why the holidays these days are so much more important than before. Take your little flags and join in today. Go into the streets....The trumpets need you to help celebrate the victory of the republic....The songs of the revolution need stronger voices. This is our holiday, our celebration. Â