Day of Remembrance for Victims of Political Repression, Exile and Hunger (May 31)

Have you ever wondered why sensitive, extremely sensitive days for the Turkic World do not mean much in our country? To tell you the truth, Dear Readers, I have never been able to make sense of it and I cannot make sense of it. On top of that, although there are non-governmental organizations in our country that make superhuman efforts to create this awareness. I feel like we are a bit insensitive. One of the leading ones in terms of sensitivity is the "Platform of NGO Organizations of the Turkic World" chaired by friend and brother Serdar Şahin. I should especially mention that they are trying to create a synergy of awareness with endless energy. Although the sensitive ground is ready for this awareness to blossom, develop and grow, but I believe that one day, with the Turkish Century, this ground will also be mobilized. I am extremely optimistic. 

Let me say in advance that the society that has been victimized the most in our globe, victimized by crimes against humanity, is the "Ancient Turkish Society". After the Central Asian Turkic Republics gained their independence after the end of the Cold War, that is, after the establishment of the Secretariat of the 'Organization of Turkic States' (formerly known as the Turkic Council) in 1992, a process leading to a 'Turkic Union' like the European Union started in 2010, yet the "Turkish Perception" is still referred to as "Turco foby" or "Turk hatred". More precisely, it is preferred that way, and it is regrettable to say that the waters have not yet calmed down. The flowing water has not found its channel.  Within the borders of the European Union, there is no place for anything other than "Holocaust, Jewish Genocide Awareness". That is to say, the Jews have bent down to the hearts, they have made a place for themselves and they have succeeded in this job very well. "Fear of Turks", "Enmity of Turks" and unfortunately "Hatred of Turks" have not been alleviated. You can see this clearly, almost everywhere. This situation could not attract the attention of the Turkish intelligentsia in Europe, and the Green Movement was very much in their interest. 

In the corridors of the United Nations (UN), there are such screaming societies that they shout from the rooftops even before a mild opposition to their country becomes apparent, and then the UN is forced to back down. But for some reason, in our society, the motto "be slow and let them say mullah" and the phrase "hit your hand and take your bread from your mouth" have always prevailed. The saying has always been dominant. This mode is the mode of being able to get anything done easily. This is not being able to express your righteousness in the real sense, not being able to shout out, keeping your head down, being suppressed and silenced by neighborhood pressure.  Beyond being suppressed and silenced, there is also another meaning such as "don't come to the forefront, don't talk nonsense so that they think you are a decent, knowledgeable, sane man", such as reflecting your ignorance outwardly, which of course is not our subject. 

Suffice it to say that our passivity, our inability to speak out, our inability to explode in the face of problems, which has been ingrained in our social culture that has been nurtured in Turkish society for centuries, contains a function that is shaped by "thankfulness for our situation" and that comforts people with a sense of pity. Indeed, if those who are dissatisfied with their situation in Turkey come to their senses in awe when they see someone worse off than themselves, it is easy to understand why they do not revolt against so many injustices, oppression and exploitation. (1) 

I think another of our weaknesses is that for some reason we do not attach the necessary importance to our minstrels, writers and philosophers, who are unfortunately among the leading apparatuses of the state, to whom we owe the founding philosophy of the state. However, the cement of our unity and togetherness is our minstrels, ashoughs, minstrels, writers and philosophers who bear the title of "living history". They are the ones who feel the future on their foreheads first and live ahead of their time. On Wednesday, May 31, as a guest of the Turkish Literature Foundation, I attended the 85th anniversary event of the common voice of the Turkish geography, Azerbaijani Turk "Anar Rızayev", in short "Anar", and I was together with friends. I also made a speech in his presence on the subject of "January, Bard, Intellectual and Leader Quartet", in which I placed him at the center. He had the greatest honor that a writer can achieve while living, "the honor of being remembered". Being isolated and desolated is the writer's hell on earth. I wish him happiness in his earthly marathon. But unfortunately, our well-known media did not show any interest in this event. What to say, what a pity, what a pity, what a pity.  

"Living Dede Korkut Anar" is a window of civilization and modernity with a very wide horizon opening from the Turkic World to the universe. Those who grasp the spirit of the time through his words, those who look at society, events and people from the same heights can see what is planned behind closed doors. (2) 

Our state tradition, which has come to the present day in line with the slogan "State, eternity", has continued its existence on the "Hearth, Bard, Intellectual and Leader Quartet" from the beginning of human history to the present day and continues to continue its existence by getting stronger. This future-embracing quartet of our state tradition is almost like the immortal four horsemen (four horse persons) of the apocalypse. So much so that while the four horsemen of the apocalypse in the Christian Sharia are believed to appear on the Day of Judgment, the harmony of our quartet, which must be in mutual harmony, constitutes the secret key to nationhood and statehood. I use the word "secret" in the sense of secret, don't be misunderstood, "secret" does not mean hidden, secret is a situation where everyone wants to benefit from that synergy. That is why the synergy of the Turks attracts the attention of all other nations. Therefore, the state tradition is not utopian and imaginary, but worldly and realistic.

May 31 is the "Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression, Exile and Starvation", does this day of remembrance belong only to Kazakhstani Turks? Of course not. It is a day of remembrance for all Turks, the Turkic world and all those who feel themselves "Turkic". It should be a day when those who say yes to the "custom" put forward, those who consent, say yes together. This is the truth. 

As a result of the wrong policies of the Bolsheviks, a total of nearly 5 million "Kazakhstan Turks" were killed in a planned and pre-planned manner with the famines that occurred in the 1920s and 1930s. All the parameters of a complete genocide were applied to them. According to the "UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide", it was pre-planned and carried out by an organization. The concept of genocide involves a domination of sovereignty, which is organized as a legal, in other words, a highly technical phenomenon in the international arena. Above all, it is the fact that a tyrannical government aimed at the total annihilation of an oppressed nation, the Turkish Nation. According to the norms of international law, the "genocide accusation" is an extremely serious needle-and-snapper approach with no statute of limitations. Another important questioning of the accusation of genocide is not the excessive number of death stares, but whether the element of "intention and intent" in the incident has been addressed in the first place. The dominant issue in accusations of crimes against humanity against the Turks is the combination of "intent to destroy" (intention) and the motive behind it (motive). 

This situation dictates a situation that goes beyond antisemitism. Yes, dear readers, the acts committed directly against the Turkish nation in almost every era are on the level of genocide. The common point in all Turkish Genocides is that the three parameters of the accusation of genocide - planning, organization and intent - are applied together. Let us not forget. My dear friend Stanford Shaw, God rest his soul, used to look at what happened in the Balkans and sigh and call it the Ottoman Holocaust. My old friend of Jewish origin even used the word "Holocaust" to describe the Turkish Genocide, the only word specific to Jews. 

In 1929-23 there were 372 uprisings against the collectivization policy of the Soviet government and all of them were brutally suppressed. About 2 million people lost their lives in 1929-1933. About one million people had to emigrate to other countries in order to survive. During the Red Terror against the Alash intellectuals in 1937-38, 103 thousand Turkish intellectuals were tried and subjected to inhuman persecution, of which 25 thousand were sentenced to death and executed. On the territory of Kazakhstan, 11 concentration camps were established during the Second World War, which were much more atrocity centers than the first main camp "Auschwitz Nazi Concentration Camps". I spent a whole day in Auschwitz, 60 kilometers west of Kraków, Poland, southwest of the small town of Oświęcim, hearing their voices. I remember it in a different climate.  

In the camps in Kazakhstan, convicted prisoners and their families were subjected to unspeakable inhuman tortures. During this period, one and a half million people from other parts of the Soviet Union were brought to Kazakhstan to create a hybrid society. If you go to Almaty one day, you will understand what I mean. What is happening in East Turkestan today is no different. Now we have to ask, don't we? I ask you, dear readers, how many people are aware or aware of "May 31- Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression, Exile and Hunger"? I commemorate with respect, mercy and gratitude our intellectuals who fought for independence, martyred intellectuals and hunger victims.

Yes, dear readers, we are trying to move forward with a bit of a limp in activating awareness, is it enough? Certainly not. But let me tell you something, we need to run even if we are limping. We have to run full speed with small limping steps, we have to run, in order to understand what we are exposed to.  

References

(1) Binnaz Uzun, "Küçük aksak adımlarla doludizgin koşmak" Birgün gazetesi, https://www.birgun.net/haber/kucuk-aksak-adimlarla-doludizgin-kosmak-412248/ Access Date 04.06.2023/

(2) Pervin Nuraliyeva, A Writer Ahead of His Time "Anar", Istanbul, April 2023, p.7