WHAT SORT OF TURKEY DO I DREAM OF FOR JULY 23?
Bulent Kenes
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
July 20 2007
The tense countdown is almost finished. We are only two days ahead
of the July 22 elections. I have so far penned many articles on the
elections and the political scene has been continually heating up.
Today I will not talk about politics. Instead I’d like to share with
you what sort of Turkey, where politics are unfortunately the chief
determining factor, I dream of and what sort of Turkey I want to wake
up to on the morning of July 23. Of course, the things I will write
are not what will immediately happen on the morning of July 23. They
are what I dream will have been realized at the end of the new term
to begin on that morning.
When I wake up on July 23, it should be in a Turkey where social
welfare and happiness are at a level at which people will not be
ashamed of what they have individually. A Turkey where every citizen
has an income that meets their fundamental needs, and where poverty
and unemployment have been eradicated. A Turkey where buying a simple
toy for your child will not make you feel guilty, with the thoughts
of poverty-stricken children in your mind.
When I wake up on July 23, it should be in a Turkey where nobody is
discriminated against because of their ethnic background, religious
identity or lifestyle. The state should never exclude certain groups
of its citizens for this or that reason. Headscarf-wearing students as
well as those who don’t wear them should be able to freely exercise
their right to education. Headscarf wearing or miniskirt wearing —
all women should be able to benefit from public services.
And all of them should be able to be employed in public service without
facing any problems. This should be a Turkey where everyone respects
everybody else’s lifestyle. A Turkey where nobody is treated with
contempt, whether they be Kurdish, Greek, Armenian, Alevi, Syriac
or Sunni.
When I wake up on July 23, it should be in such a Turkey that doesn’t
perpetuate an opposition focused on lies and destruction, or the
hubris of believing they know everything and rely on the public’s
support. While the opposition supports all leaps in favor of the
country, the government should seek the opposition’s contentment.
When I wake up on July 23, it should be in such a Turkey that people
should never doubt their own military in relation to the future of
democracy. Members of the security forces whose only responsibility
is to establish security and peace should not be found to be members
of gangs as they are today, but only trying to crack down on gangs.
When I wake up on July 23, it should be in a Turkey that is home to a
massive reform process in which democracy, human rights and liberties
grow by leaps and bounds. Help should not be sought from primitive
fascism or totalitarian statements that sanctify the state.
When I wake up on July 23, it should be in such a Turkey that the
rule of law should not exist only on paper. The law should be rescued
from becoming a fatal spider’s web where the strong kills and the weak
are helplessly stuck. The power of the right should prevail over the
right of the powerful.
When I wake up on July 23, it should be in such a Turkey that those
who commit a crime should be punished, not those who unearthed it, as
was the case in the ªemdinli incident. This should be in such a Turkey
that the difference between those who want to serve the country and
those who want the country to serve them must be realized. It should
cease to be a country where people’s lives are destroyed after being
labeled with attributes they don’t deserve.
When I wake up on July 23, it should be in such a Turkey that we should
never again come across the brazen cheekiness of former businessmen
who pretend to be the paragon of virtue after siphoning off billions
of dollars from the country and emptying its banks.
When I wake up on July 23, it should be in a Turkey that is not a
trash can of shameless politicians who act as if the country were
committed to them although they were tested many times in the past,
and who think politics means lying and lying means politics.
When I wake up on July 23, it should be in a Turkey where heartless,
ruthless and malevolent forces that generate artificial threats, such
as saying the republic and secularism is in danger, should no longer
be allowed to divide people into camps and plant seeds of hatred and
enmity as freely as they can today.
When I wake up on July 23, it should be in a Turkey where you shouldn’t
question whether you have inflicted harm upon your child by causing
its conception.
When I wake up on July 23, it should be in a Turkey envied for its
social welfare, peace, internal harmony and level of contentment. It
should become a country that gives direction to global developments
with its constructive contributions.
The Turkey I will wake up to on July 23 should be a colorful and
exciting dream that will make me feel happy to have woken up.
–Boundary_(ID_8lgjgB7waz3JCTX30xIu4w)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress