WRITER IPEKCI SAYS VICTIMS’ FAMILIES FINALLY FEEL EACH OTHER’S PAIN
Today’s Zaman
4-8-writer-ipekci-says-victims-families-finally-fe el-each-others-pain.html
Feb 15 2010
Turkey
Writer Leyla ipekci has said she has been waiting for years for a
show of solidarity among the families of the victims of political
assassinations and that the moment has finally come, albeit late.
"It came too late. Believe me, I’ve been waiting for it for years.
People who are involved in shady business always come together,
but the victims’ families do not," she told Today’s Zaman for
Monday Talk, referring to the recent gathering of the "deep family"
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was fatally shot by
an ultranationalist teenager outside the Agos weekly in 2007. The
Dink family’s supporters are referencing the "deep state," which is
believed to have played a role in Dink’s murder. They demanded that
no secrets remain.
‘People who are involved in shady business always come together,
but the victims’ families do not. The climate in Turkey is finally
allowing solidarity among the families of such victims who were
murdered for political motivation. This is a very positive process
that allows us to feel each other’s pain’
"We are the ‘deep’ family of Hrant Dink," said Filiz Ali, daughter
of the great Turkish poet Sabahattin Ali, who was murdered in 1948
while trying to flee the country after serving time in prison for
insulting Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Ä°pekci said all of these murders are connected and that denying this
is not just a matter of having a different opinion. She said she
dislikes attending ceremonies at the grave of her well-known uncle
Abdi Ä°pekci, who was assassinated in 1979.
"The dynamics behind the extrajudicial killings are related to the
dynamics that created Ergenekon. Not believing in this fact is not just
a matter of having a different opinion, but it is somewhat about being
involved in all that shady business, or not having enough knowledge
about what’s going on. This act of denial makes me think that some
people are shedding false tears for Ä°pekci," she said.
Leyla Ä°pekci, a writer who questions peace, war and identity
Having studied sociology at Bogazici University, she worked at various
newspapers and magazines as a correspondent, an editor and a writer.
She wrote columns for the Radikal and Zaman dailies and now writes for
Taraf. She has also contributed to long screenplays. She received the
Writers’ Union of Turkey 2007 award in the area of press-opinion. Her
first novel, "Maya," received its first award in 1998 from the Milliyet
Arts Magazine. She released her latest novel, "BaÅ~_kası Oldugun Yer"
(The Place Where You Become the Other), in 2005. Apart from this,
she has had essays published in 2007 and is now working on a new novel.
The voices of the families of victims who were killed for political
motivations are being heard today more than before. One demonstration
of that was the 12th hearing of the trial related to Hrant Dink’s
murder. We saw relatives of prominent figures who were assassinated
stand in solidarity with the Dink family. What is your evaluation
of that picture, which made it to the front pages of newspapers last
week? You were not there, but were you there emotionally?
Of course. I usually go to the hearings of the Dink case, but could
not make it this time. All of these murders are connected somehow.
When you talk about extrajudicial killings, you cannot put the Kurdish
issue aside; when you talk about the murder of Hrant Dink, you cannot
ignore the Ergenekon case; and when you make mention of the Ergenekon
case, you cannot leave political murders out. They run parallel and
are interconnected.
Were you expecting such a show of solidarity?
It came too late. Believe me, I’ve been waiting for it for years.
People who are involved in shady business always come together, but
the victims’ families do not. The climate in Turkey finally allows
for solidarity among the families of victims who were murdered for
political motivations. This is a very positive process that allows
us to feel each other’s pain.
What factors do you think allowed for this climate in the country?
There are a lot of factors, including different circumstances in the
world, changing US policies, a changing class structure in Turkish
society, a desire by this government to do a little more in that regard
compared to past governments, and so on. But in summary, we can say
that too many injustices have been swept under the rug in Turkey.
However, crimes don’t stay under cover forever. A statute of
limitations exists in law, but not in people’s desire to seek justice.
This is a matter that pertains to one’s conscience. Too much blood
has been shed based on injustice in this country. Some institutions
did not reveal the facts behind those horrifying murders. It is wrong
to blame all institutions in that regard, too, but some deep state
elements in the military and state bureaucracy have long tried to do
that and were not punished. Since the responsible people behind the
cover-ups were not tried, their power has grown. The Ergenekon case
is the first time that there is a trial in that regard. The Susurluk
incident was also important for uncovering the truth.
‘We have not settled our past accounts’ You indicated in one of your
articles that you have had first-hand experience when it comes to what
has been going on in society and that this is how you understand the
changes taking place. Can you please elaborate on that?
If I had not lived to see how Hrant Dink’s sentences were
misrepresented in some publications, I could have said Dink should
not have said terrible things. A reason was created for his murder to
justify it. It was false and it was slander. People who are involved
in shady business find justifications for such horrible acts. I can
say that a similar maneuvering of the public opinion took place in
the Feb. 28 period. I lived through it. And some retired officials
started to admit that they had had plans for social engineering,
such as the shameful ones that were put into practice during the
Sept. 6-7 [1955] events. There have been several painful incidents
in Turkey’s past, including the May 1 events of 1977, events in Corum
and MaraÅ~_ in which Turkey’s Alevi and Sunni citizens were involved
in bloody clashes. We knew that something shady was going on behind
those incidents but were never able to prove it. Now the process
which almost started with the murder of Hrant Dink and the Ergenekon
trial have helped us put all of those incidents into context. This
is natural because people need justice. But we are at the start of a
long process, and we are suffering from not knowing each other’s pain.
‘Kurdish politicians of BDP need to have inclusive arguments’
Talking about confrontation and pain, the Kurdish issue comes to mind.
There was an initiative by the government, but where is it going?
It does not seem to be going anywhere. When the nationalist and
staunchly Kemalist opposition was talking about the initiative,
they accused the government of dividing the people into two groups:
Turks and Kurds. They also accused the government of destroying
the brotherhood between the two groups. But, unfortunately, this
brotherhood was alive only under the condition that even the letter
"K" for "Kurd" is not said out loud.
How do you evaluate the closure of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society
Party (DTP)?
There were a lot of acts of the DTP that led to its closure, but it
was still a political decision by the court, and it was unfair. They
established another party [the Freedom and Democracy Party (BDP)].
Their language, which has remained almost the same for 30 years, will
also change. Just as the Justice and Development Party [AK Party]
has to be more democratic and the Republican People’s Party [CHP]
has to understand the dynamics of society more, Kurdish politicians
also need to have arguments that are more inclusive.
What did you observe during the Feb. 28 process?
I was a journalist at the time and did not believe what some of
the publications and officials were saying. They plotted to force
the government to resign. For example, a group was created called
the Aczimendis. I was working at Hurriyet at the time and saw how
cameramen and photographers were arranged to follow the [radical
Islamist] Aczimendi group on the streets [to inject fear in society
as part of a plan to topple the government]. It turned out that they
were paid by shady groups to act as radical Islamists. As a result
of the Feb. 28 process, religious people have been victimized just
as leftists were victimized in the Sept. 12, 1980 coup. We have not
settled our past accounts in that regard.
You come from the Dogan Media Group. Do you think the mentality of
some of the Dogan media bosses, who seemed to have collaborated with
elements of the deep state to present a terrifying picture in the Feb.
28 process, is still same?
This is hard to know. There are people who changed their minds and
there are people who did not. I engage in heated debates with people
about these issues. This is a struggle. What I can do is witness and
record them. Also, groups are not homogenous. For example, at the
Aktuel magazine, I worked with intellectuals such as Alper GörmuÅ~_
and Alev Er, both of whom are open minded and question information
that is presented to them. I believe things will change in the long
term even though I sometimes lose hope in the medium term.
What makes you lose hope?
I can give you an example from a recent conversation. Writer Elif
Å~^afak and artist Teoman were discussing the attitude of Turkish youth
on a television program. While the former was saying that youth is
promising and inquiring, the latter was saying the opposite. Indeed,
both are true. This is a dynamic society that has been going through
different dimensions at the same time. But as I said, we have not
settled our old accounts yet. We are at a stage at which we want to
voice our thoughts on whatever issue we find ourselves to be correct
on. But we have to go through that stage, too, though this will take
a long time. This is a painful process. It was not easy in Italy or
Spain, either.
‘Some shed crocodile tears’ In one of your recent articles you spoke
about why you dislike attending the ceremonies at the grave of your
uncle Abdi Ä°pekci, who was assassinated in 1979. Can you tell us a
bit more about this?
Some of the people who repeatedly defended the idea in the media
that Ergenekon was a lie, that this government cannot solve any
problems and who oppose the Kurdish opening were there mourning. We
cannot separate those issues from each other. The dynamics behind
extrajudicial killings are related to the dynamics that created
Ergenekon. Not believing in this fact is not just a matter of having
a different opinion; it is about being somewhat involved in all that
shady business or not having enough knowledge about what is going on.
This act of denial makes me think that some people are shedding false
tears for Ä°pekci.
As you point out, all these political murders were perceived as
separate incidents that occurred independently of one other.
That’s why I consider those tears at the cemetery to be crocodile
tears. People who mourn today did nothing to contribute to the
revelation of facts and the discovery of who was responsible for
Ä°pekci’s murder. As a result, the case exceeded the statute of
limitations and was closed. The most important thing is justice. Filiz
Ali [the daughter of assassinated writer Sabahattin Ali] made an
interesting point when she said prior to the Dink trial that the
society will talk much about how damaging it is to institutions
whenever there are allegations of wrongdoing or documents revealing
misconduct by state institutions.
You say that motivations for political murders are interrelated,
but do you think there is enough support from the Kurdish people for
the Ergenekon trial to resolve unsolved extrajudicial killings?
When I wrote my recent articles about the issue, most of the e-mails I
got came from Kurds. They shared my thoughts on Ä°pekci’s murder. We
may not be able to reach a conclusion from a sociological point of
view regarding this, but I attach great importance to these acts of
empathy because some writers who consider themselves leftists tried
tirelessly to categorize the Ä°pekci family as white, secular and
upper-class elite. They therefore thought the Ä°pekci family would
have a strict secular, elitist and strict leftist stance. But it
was not like that. We learn from Abdi Ä°pekci’s letters that he was
accused and vilified by leftists because he was trying to present
the views of the people of the right in the newspaper.
I personally have had to fight against this view, which was used
to create enemies of the Ä°pekcis. And Ä°pekci’s enemies tried to
justify his murder by referring to his roots.
What do you think was the motivation behind this?
There was a need to develop an ideology to keep neo-nationalism alive
among the economically rising religious class. We see that this was
partly being done by so-called investigative journalists who might
be involved in Ergenekon. They are now being tried as part of the
Ergenekon case. The Ä°pekcis were alone in the past when they were at
the gates of the courts seeking justice. There were times when they
did not have enough money to survive, but no one knew about it. It’s
different now. We have public support. I don’t trust politics, but
I do trust the public and its common sense. Some people ask me why I
support religious women in their fight to be free to wear headscarves.
My response is that only fighting for the rights of each other will
free us.