That's it

Exactly four years ago today, I shared my thoughts on the forest fires that occurred at that time.
Four years, 1,461 days have passed, so I asked myself, what has changed? Lives are still being lost, our hearts are still breaking, we are still melting away, turning to ashes.
Does a country, a nation, a government learn nothing from what it has experienced? Does it take no measures to correct its mistakes? Does it become so indifferent?
Does a nation never hold those in power accountable when the time comes? Does it persist in its errors? Does it fail to distinguish between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, honesty and hypocrisy?
Is that really all there is to it?
Yes, that is all there is.
What can one say?
With the hope that I will not have to share this article again in four years, here is what I have written. Let us read it.
[31 July 2021
Lives lost in flames
Over the past few days, the fires raging in Turkey's forests and the lives lost—people, animals, plants—are tearing at our hearts.
It is impossible not to be saddened by what is happening.
Unfortunately, we have added our forests to the list of things we have failed to protect.
We cannot protect our women and children; murders and acts of madness are rampant.
Our young people are still dying for this country, our saplings are being broken in Syria and Iraq.
The virus plague continues to reach new heights in our country; young and old, our people are dying untimely deaths, and we have no joy left.
Let's return to the fires.
The fact that the fires broke out in multiple areas strengthens the possibility of sabotage. If so, the situation is much more serious and much more tragic. However, this kind of despicable act, which only human scum could commit, must be prevented. The main duty of the state is to protect the lives and property of its citizens against these bloodthirsty individuals. 
Security is the most basic right and expectation of citizens.
Whether what happened was sabotage or not, it is another sad situation to see that the state was caught unprepared for such large fires breaking out in different areas at the same time.
If these fires were planned sabotage, they should have been prevented through effective intelligence before they were started. Every summer, our forests burn at this time of year, and we still cannot take adequate and preventive measures. Why? We must question this at every level.
Another issue is that the rights of the guards, workers, engineers, pilots, firefighters, and all other personnel involved in firefighting cannot be compensated; they are risking their lives, working without regard to overtime, yet it appears that these fires grew so large and could not be extinguished in time due to the inadequacy of firefighting aircraft. It is clear that this is a significant management failure. A motion must be submitted to Parliament immediately, and an investigation must be conducted. Those responsible for the loss of life and property must be held accountable for their negligence.
If a state and the people living in that state allocate resources to dozens of vehicles, equipment, aircraft, etc., which the ruling powers use under the pretext of ‘no compromise on prestige,’ instead of the necessary aerial vehicles to extinguish forests, protect people, animals, and trees, and if they bring those who make such choices to power and keep them there, they are also responsible for the disasters that befall them. Because democracy is the people governing themselves. Every society chooses the government it deserves and lives under its rule.
Prestige, however, does not increase through property, possessions, vehicles, or equipment; it grows through qualities such as knowledge, experience, humility, diligence, and generosity.
Given this situation, it is unacceptable that while countries like Greece, Spain, France, and Italy, which frequently face forest fires, have an average of 20 firefighting aircraft, Turkey has only three, and those are rented.
Let us hope that our leaders learn from this disaster, expand preventive intelligence, abandon the misconception that ‘there is no saving in prestige,’ and use resources more effectively and appropriately for the procurement and use of the right equipment.
Let us hope that the public will stop attributing responsibility for every disaster and mistake that befalls them to the opposition, internal or external forces, or spiritual powers, and instead understand that in democracies, authority and responsibility lie with those in power, while power itself resides with the people, and make their choices accordingly at election time.
Let us hope, let us hope.