Gülşen Conversation of the Tontons of our Neighborhood

In our neighborhood we have two tontons, an aunt and a grandfather. They always sit together in front of the house, on the bench under the trees in the garden. I eavesdropped a little to see what these two tontons were talking about.

Our grandfather from the tontons turns to our aunt:

????Gülşen says.

????Our aunt: Yes, he says, she's a beautiful girl.

????Our grandfather: no, he says, that's not Gülşen, I'm talking about, the singer, corrects our aunt.

????Auntie: the singer? he asks, then adds, well, he says, I'm talking about that girl, she's a beautiful girl, or am I confusing her, he regrets to himself. Then he turns to our grandfather and asks, "Wasn't she the daughter of Hasan Efendi from the neighborhood below?

????Our grandfather: looking up from the book he was reading, he says no, you're getting confused, he gets angry with the aunt, Hasan Efendi's daughter is in prayer, this Gülşen, you know the one who sings in casinos, recently there was news that she was going naked on stage, I'm talking about that Gülşen, he explains.

????Auntie: Hasan Efendi's daughter was going on stage naked, she marvels and reproaches herself.

????Dede: again says no, he gets angry at her again, wondering why she thought of Hasan Efendi's daughter.

????Auntie: in a slightly offended voice, well, didn't you say Gülşen? You said Gülşen, she cries.

????Dede: I said I said the singer Gülşen, what are you doing with Hasan Efendi's daughter, he continues in an angry tone.

????Auntie says, what am I getting mixed up with, she says I understand, on the one hand, she adds, I also heard it on the news, our chief republic called and said get well soon, isn't it him?

????Our grandfather says: look, you've mixed it up again, our president said to Tatlıses to get well soon.

????Our aunt: "What did I get mixed up?" she questions with her usual pudginess. On the one hand, she puts her braid aside with an angry expression and stares at her grandfather's face.

????Dede: no, he says, Kılıçdaroğlu told him to get well soon, and adds, our chief republican said to leave immediately!.

????Auntie: Look, this time you must have gotten it mixed up, Kılıçdaroğlu says, and adds, "I think Kılıçdaroğlu told him to get well soon.

????Dede: I think you are confusing, Kılıçdaroğlu said let's make peace, not let it be halal. He adds that he has been on a halalization kick lately.

????Auntie: I don't know exactly what Kılıçdaroğlu said, but I heard it with my own ears on the news, the prosecutor told the court to arrest him.

????Dede: which prosecutor, he asks with curious eyes.

????Auntie: You know he had him arrested recently, he says, he was a young prosecutor, was it Sabaş?

????Dede: You always confuse what you hear, he says, it was Kabaş. Then he adds, look, he says, see, I told you that at that time, he said the wrong things, but they silenced him, and now he is silent too.

There is silence between them for a while, who knows what they are thinking. Meanwhile, the aunt continues her knitting and the grandfather dives into the book he is reading for a while.

????Dede breaks the silence: they'll keep him in jail for a while, that'll be the end of it.

????Aunt continues, but what they did was a wrongful arrest. There was a lawyer, she says, he's always on TV, he's very knowledgeable, her eyes shine, she says, he says they made an unjust arrest on TV, she adds.

????Dede: He says: You get everything mixed up, but by the way, you know everything well, who is right and who is wrong

????Aunt says: of course I know, I used to work at the courthouse, don't you remember?

????Dede: laughs as if you used to be a prosecutor at the courthouse, adding that you used to mop the floors at the courthouse.

????Our aunt says: it's okay, it's the place where justice is distributed, as if those old days come alive in her eyes. She continues in a wise tone, saying that people get wiser once they step inside there.

????Dademiz: You just said they arrested Tatlıses, he asks with curious eyes.

????Yes, says aunt, in a confident tone, I heard it on the news. But she says, I don't know why they arrested him.

????Our grandfather: I don't know, he probably did something again, he mumbles quietly.

There is a little more silence, both of them focus on what is in their hands for a while. 

????Dede: suddenly huha, I remember, he says, I think he made a joke on stage.

???? Auntie: no, she says, it was on the news, they said he had an accident, he was stuck in the car, she says.

????Dede: says of course they'd get stuck if they only understood half of what was said, and he shakes his head left and right, wishing he wasn't naked on stage.

????Auntie: says they are artists, it is not a sin for them, no matter what they do on stage.

????Dede: says that what they said touched the head of the government. He says of course he was angry.

????Auntie: suddenly asks, what did Kılıçdaroğlu say? As if he thought of it at the last minute.

????Dede: Kılıçdaroğlu says he tweeted.

????Aunt: what is a tweet, he asks in curiosity.

????Dede: I don't know either, they said so on the news, he adds.

????Auntie: I don't know which channel you watched the news on, but I heard the opposite. She pauses for a while and says that I heard that the real president tweeted.

????Dede: What did the republic say, he asks, then adds, did the republic say to leave the republic, he asks in a pedantic tone.

????Auntie: He says no, he says there was a flood in Istanbul again, the republic says in the tweet.

????Our grandfather: You are confusing it again, he says, they say Imamoğlu wrote it, he adds.

????Auntie: Imamoğlu is a good man, he says, they gave our daughter a card from the municipality, now they visit the parks and gardens for free with their grandchildren. Then she puts her hand aside and rubs her knees for a while, lamenting that I'm going to travel too, but my knees are no longer strong.

????Dede: But he says he's from the People's Party.

????Auntie: He says it's okay, he gives coal, look at him. She says what difference does it make, no matter which party he is from, she says, I love Imamoğlu, while at the same time she gets angry with the grandfather.

Grandpa: Imamoğlu does not distribute coal, the previous ones did that, and they also gave pasta with it. This one gives a card, he explains. You can go and buy whatever you want from the market now, she continues. Then she adds, although I had natural gas connected, but I was still buying coal when they distributed it.

????Auntie: What were you doing with the coal?

????Dede: With a slightly angry and a little shy face, he says, I was doing what I was doing, what do you care. I was giving it to the parents, he says after a little silence. Then he sighs and says, "Mansur Yavaş is the real Mansur Yavaş, they say he helps people well".

????Auntie: But, says Kılıçdaroğlu, he told them to mind their own business.

????Dede: after a pause, he says Gülşen again, she is a beautiful girl, she will be famous now, he adds.

????Auntie: asks which Gülşen, as if she forgot what they just talked about.

????Dede: I'm talking about Hasan Efendi's daughter Gülşen. He says she will be famous now.

????Auntie: He asks where you got that from.

????Dede: He laughs saying her name is Gülşen too. He says she will surely get her fate soon.

They laugh between them.

I couldn't listen to them anymore. Even though they sometimes confuse what they say, they actually know everything. They are the joys of our doorstep. They laugh sometimes, argue sometimes. They gossip a lot, they have slightly different world views, but they do no harm to anyone.

The fault lines of this society, which is trying to be separated through the singer Gülşen, are again being strained. A young, uninformed prosecutor, a judge who may have been specially appointed to that position and who is as ignorant of the law as the inexperienced prosecutor, and a political case have been occupying the screens for days.

What Gülşen did is not nice, perhaps it could be called indiscretion. But it seems she realized her mistake too. She immediately apologized.

Sometimes they say that you should look not at who says it, but who makes you say it. This saying does not mean hit him on the head so that he cannot say it again, it means what did you do that made them say such a thing about you.

I think there is no need to be too offended. After all, it was an ignorant joke. You can just condemn it. He already understood that he apologized for his mistake. If you are going to overreact to every bad word said, they will ask where you have been until today. Who said what words until today? What bad words these ears have heard and we all just swallowed together, no one could do anything. And what apologies have been made in the past, you have forgiven even great misdemeanors, will you not forgive Gülşen's indiscretion?

As I said, look not at the words spoken, but at the person who made them spoken, and look at what the person who made them spoken did at the time.

I wish our elders, if they have such a high level of artistic sensitivity, could have said get well soon to both of our artists.

Let us say get well soon for them. Let's say get well soon to both İbrahim Tatlıses and singer Gülşen.

We have one more little word for Gülşen. They say that if the wolf has set his mind to eat the lamb, he will have plenty of excuses. Sometimes you have to pay attention to what you say, even if you say it jokingly. After all, you are in the public eye. I am not saying shut up, of course every artist will speak, in fact they should speak, they will say what they know is right. But within the limits of modesty. Dear Gülşen, I hope you won't be battered too much behind those iron bars. Let me say that the law will not be slaughtered any further and that justice will find its way as soon as possible. I don't want to lose hope for the law.

But don't worry, these days will pass. Maybe these are parts of the diet that must be paid. One day, this society will realize the value of living together.

I guess we just need a little patience until that day comes.

In the meantime, I think we should find a solution to the places in Istanbul that are constantly flooded every time it rains heavily. It is no excuse to say that the people in charge have not solved it for twenty years.

Love and respect to everyone from Moscow, especially to all Gülşen.