×
Which Turkey?
Paylaş
LinkedinFlipboardLinki KopyalaYazı Tipi
The great Turkish poet and Sufi mystic Yunus Emre was trying to explain the divine love he had for the God deep inside him when he said, "There is a self in myself, deeper than myself."
Obviously we have a Turkey composed of several Turkeys Ğ one in many, many in one. But to which Turkey do we belong?
Is it the Turkey where many honorable professors, soldiers who spent their lives defending the nation and the country, businessmen and intellectuals Ğ all devoted patriots and all critical of the government Ğ were placed behind bars, together with criminals, underground figures, murderers and thieves, and subjected to a summary execution on the front pages and TV screens of a media in allegiance to the government, while some were indicted and many remain in prison without any official charge being brought against them?
Do we belong to the Turkey where people suffer from acute telephone-phobia? Are we living in the Turkey where wives hesitate to call their husbands, fathers fear to call their children and where a Justice Minister can say those who talk on the phone should know that what they say might be "officially" listened to by the "big brother" state Ğ as perhaps some 70,000 have in this nation of over 70 million Ğ while no one can say how many people might have been tapped illegally or subjected to "circumstantial" listening? Or is it the Turkey where getting elected to Parliament has become the best way of escaping justice, thanks to the high walls of judicial immunity provided to the deputies? Perhaps it is the one where having a covered wife and an almond moustache may serve as a higher qualifying factor in getting a top bureaucratic job than a university degree or experience in a particular field?
Could it be the Turkey where a junior feudal landlord aspiring for a larger share, if possible at all in the land of a clan, can order the feudal landlord and half the population of a village be "erased up to their chickens in the coop"? Or is it the Turkey where tradition requires the younger son to marry the wife of his dead brother? Is it the Turkey where the institution of forensic medicine, which also looks at crimes of pedophilia, has been issuing reports saying that children subjected to rape were not "psychologically affected" and where, excluding a brief recent period, no psychologist specializing in children has been employed?
A very sad story
Hold on, perhaps we are living in the Turkey of Nurcan Kaçan and Ferit Demir. Who are they? Well, Kaçan, despite all the efforts of her family to "save their honor," managed to survive 13 shots fired at her and still lives in an Adana village. Demir was not so lucky, he lost his life, and in that respect, a portion of his family’s honor was salvaged!
Though the story is quite sad, the eventual court decision is totally appalling. As Kaçan revealed in her court testimony, after her husband (with whom she did not have an official marriage) went away for his military service, Demir began to blackmail her, saying if she did not allow him into her house, he would spread gossip around that she was going to bed with him. Demir eventually achieved his aim and the two started to get together occasionally. A while later, scared of the consequences should anyone discover the illegitimate affair, Kaçan told her mother-in-law that Demir raped her.
What happens in that Turkey when such an incident occurs? Simple! The family elders come together, evaluate the situation and order one of the adolescent boys in the family to murder both the woman and the man and save the family honor. Why would they order an adolescent boy to carry out the "punishment"? Because adolescents face a reduced penalty for such actions. Thus a boy, entrusted with the duty by family elders, fires nine shots at Kaçan, but fails to kill her. An uncle following him orders the boy to fire at her head and chest. The boy fires four more shots. Still the woman survives. Demir was less fortunate. Another 15-year-old boy, assigned by his relatives to commit the murder in order to avoid a blood feud between the two families, completes his job successfully, killing Demir. Can you guess the outcome in the court? The murderers and those who incited them to violence were first sentenced to heavy penalties. However, with the "reasoning" that if such violent actions had not taken by the two families, the pair would have been discarded by society, the court substantially reduced the penalties. Do we have courts to apply justice, or to promote primitive honor crimes? In which Turkey was this snapshot taken?
In which Turkey are we living?
Is it the Turkey where many honorable professors, soldiers who spent their lives defending the nation and the country, businessmen and intellectuals Ğ all devoted patriots and all critical of the government Ğ were placed behind bars, together with criminals, underground figures, murderers and thieves, and subjected to a summary execution on the front pages and TV screens of a media in allegiance to the government, while some were indicted and many remain in prison without any official charge being brought against them?
Do we belong to the Turkey where people suffer from acute telephone-phobia? Are we living in the Turkey where wives hesitate to call their husbands, fathers fear to call their children and where a Justice Minister can say those who talk on the phone should know that what they say might be "officially" listened to by the "big brother" state Ğ as perhaps some 70,000 have in this nation of over 70 million Ğ while no one can say how many people might have been tapped illegally or subjected to "circumstantial" listening? Or is it the Turkey where getting elected to Parliament has become the best way of escaping justice, thanks to the high walls of judicial immunity provided to the deputies? Perhaps it is the one where having a covered wife and an almond moustache may serve as a higher qualifying factor in getting a top bureaucratic job than a university degree or experience in a particular field?
Could it be the Turkey where a junior feudal landlord aspiring for a larger share, if possible at all in the land of a clan, can order the feudal landlord and half the population of a village be "erased up to their chickens in the coop"? Or is it the Turkey where tradition requires the younger son to marry the wife of his dead brother? Is it the Turkey where the institution of forensic medicine, which also looks at crimes of pedophilia, has been issuing reports saying that children subjected to rape were not "psychologically affected" and where, excluding a brief recent period, no psychologist specializing in children has been employed?
A very sad story
Hold on, perhaps we are living in the Turkey of Nurcan Kaçan and Ferit Demir. Who are they? Well, Kaçan, despite all the efforts of her family to "save their honor," managed to survive 13 shots fired at her and still lives in an Adana village. Demir was not so lucky, he lost his life, and in that respect, a portion of his family’s honor was salvaged!
Though the story is quite sad, the eventual court decision is totally appalling. As Kaçan revealed in her court testimony, after her husband (with whom she did not have an official marriage) went away for his military service, Demir began to blackmail her, saying if she did not allow him into her house, he would spread gossip around that she was going to bed with him. Demir eventually achieved his aim and the two started to get together occasionally. A while later, scared of the consequences should anyone discover the illegitimate affair, Kaçan told her mother-in-law that Demir raped her.
What happens in that Turkey when such an incident occurs? Simple! The family elders come together, evaluate the situation and order one of the adolescent boys in the family to murder both the woman and the man and save the family honor. Why would they order an adolescent boy to carry out the "punishment"? Because adolescents face a reduced penalty for such actions. Thus a boy, entrusted with the duty by family elders, fires nine shots at Kaçan, but fails to kill her. An uncle following him orders the boy to fire at her head and chest. The boy fires four more shots. Still the woman survives. Demir was less fortunate. Another 15-year-old boy, assigned by his relatives to commit the murder in order to avoid a blood feud between the two families, completes his job successfully, killing Demir. Can you guess the outcome in the court? The murderers and those who incited them to violence were first sentenced to heavy penalties. However, with the "reasoning" that if such violent actions had not taken by the two families, the pair would have been discarded by society, the court substantially reduced the penalties. Do we have courts to apply justice, or to promote primitive honor crimes? In which Turkey was this snapshot taken?
In which Turkey are we living?
Paylaş
LinkedinFlipboardLinki KopyalaYazı Tipi
