17.09.2007
Turkish Press Review

Source: berno=122252

FATMA DISLI

Controversial video gives Turkey goose bumps

The broadcast of the video for a song whose lyrics praise the killer
and masterminds of the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink — who was shot dead earlier this year by ultra-nationalists for
allegedly insulting Turkishness — is sending shockwaves across
Turkey. The most terrifying thing about the incident was that the
singer, Ýsmail Türüt, who is from the Black Sea region that Dink’s
killer also comes from, said he was very happy to sing such a song.
Actually this is not the first incident showing Dink’s killers being
hailed as heroes, as some police officers posed for souvenir photos
with Dink’s alleged killer immediately after his arrest at the police
office, which caused much controversy and mirrored the disturbed
mentality reigning in some parts of Turkey.

"Is this Darfur?" asks Sabah columnist Ergun Babahan, who laments the
racist mentality exhibited by some in Turkey that led to the
composition of such a song. Discussing ways to rid society of such an
attitude, he rules out the abolition of the notorious Article 301 of
the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) — which makes it a crime to insult
Turkishness and has caused the prosecution of many intellectuals
including Dink — or even a constitutional change as a solution. "No
matter if you write the most democratic constitution and modernize
your penal code, it is not easy to establish a democratic social
structure as long as the masses think and behave differently. Is it
possible to maintain a healthy social order as people who do not
refrain from praising an abhorrent murder, are still respected by some
circles of the society and as long as they continue to appear on
television screens and make programs? Change laws thousands of times,
but that will mean nothing as long as an understanding that regards it
as heroism to fight thought with weapons is not condemned," he
explains. Babahan defines the problem in Turkey as one of people’s
refusing to live alongside other identities and thoughts. "Anybody who
does not make an effort to achieve this harms the future of this
country. Because as long as such a defective mentality reigns in
Turkey, our differences will continue to be a source of enmity rather
than richness," he argues.

Another Sabah columnist, Erdal Þafak, complains about the deep silence
among people in Turkey in the face of incidents like the emergence of
such a video. He refers to similar events in the past which went
unnoticed, such as the threat made by the leader of a youth
organization in front of Agos daily, Dink’s paper, to kill Dink before
his murder; articles published after Dink’s murder saying "Turkey has
lost one of its enemies"; and Dink’s killer’s white cap becoming
popular in the wake of the release of the closed-circuit footage taken
within moments of the killing. This quiet, this deep silence reminds
one of the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch in the Middle Ages,
particularly "Ecce Homo," he notes. "The silence and indifference of
the public is depicted in those paintings while Jesus is being taken
to execution," he explains, as he laments a similar attitude among the
public about the Dink murder and the unfortunate events following it,
like the recent song case.

Vatan’s Güngör Mengi thinks differently from Þafak about the public’s
reaction to the controversial video, saying that the public’s reaction
was so huge that the video was ultimately removed from YouTube. What
concerns him most about the incident is the number of young people who
could be inspired by it. "Why does the order in Turkey not protect our
children? Why? Because our culture and laws do not force adults to act
responsibly," he asserts.