Ertugrul Ozkok: Two young men and two funerals from Turkey

There was a large crowd gathered at one funeral.

The nation’s TV channels reported live.

But a deep sense of loneliness and feeling of abandonment resided over the other funeral.

* * *

Two young men lead the two funerals.

Selim Dogan is the name of one of these young men.

Filled with pride and honor, he said a sad farewell to his father.

He inherited the best legacy from his father.

Turkey embraced his father and this was strengthened by the boy's love towards his country, the state and the whole of society.

The other youth’s name is Oytun.

His face revealed a completely different picture.

Pride also showed on his face.

He was also looking just as proud of his father.

But his face obviously revealed that inside something was missing, more than missing, was fading away.

What was fading?
 
Clearly, it is his trust in the state.

Maybe this was the dissolving trust and love toward the state, about which, his father had told him to hold in high esteem throughout his youth.

While one of the two funerals was claimed by the state and the whole of society, the other was as lonely and empty as it had been in the hospital beforehand.
 

* * *

These two young boys will not forget their father and the funerals held for them.
 
The respect one has towards the state, government, rule of law and values will continue to grow.
 
While the others respect towards the state province where he lives, the rule of law in his small town and the conscience of the region will dissipate with all the pain, anger and ill-feeling he holds inside.

What did the law of his state, his country's law say?:

"Your father is the financer of an illegal gang..."
 
Yet, what was the legacy he inherited from his father?
 
A debt of 19,000 YTL owed to the country’s social insurance fund.

A poor mother has been forced to live with a relative because she was unable to pay her rent.
 
And anger is brewing from the unjustness he faces.

A crippling grief is held deep inside, no matter how much he tries to suppress it.

Furthermore, he still is not know the crime for which has father was alleged to have committed and for which he was being held for the past 13 months.

Now he will never know.

Because his father, deposited like human waste at a hospital, will never speak again.

The prosecutor of the state which he defended throughout his life will label him by pinning the indictment on his back and he will never have the opportunity to defend himself or say, "I am innocent."

The charges against him will be drawn up, but he will never even be given the right to be acquitted. Â
 
He will be accused of being criminal and he will not even have the opportunity to prove his innocence.

He will be forever stained because of this.

But for God's sake, the spot on the unjust act that left him in hospital will be far greater than this.

* * *
CORRECTION: Turkish army chief Yasar Buyukanit telephoned me yesterday.

He started to talk saying "There is a mistake in your yesterday's column," and went on:

"You are saying my conversations with journalists who came to the general staff were recorded. This is absolutely wrong."

I notice that I made a mistake in my column. The cassette, which was put in front of Mustafa Balbay, had been recorded in the office of Chief of Staff of Gendarmerie Intelligence Bureau.

He said "I guess there was a technical mistake at that point", when I asked "Why that record had been made".