In Spite of Everything

Click to read the article in Turkish

When this article was already penned and sent to bianet, I read the letter of [death fasting arrested lawyer] Aytaç Ünsal on Gazete Duvar news website. I want to directly address Aytaç from here.

Aytaç... I was not born in Turkey, I did not study here. But I came back here after I graduated from university and decided to stay in this country. If you ask me why, I can say that it was because of people like you.

I would love to explain it to you at length, but it is not the place to do it. If you are curious, I will directly write to you. I have penned an article making efforts to express something, I hope that you will read it. Or rather, your attorneys will make sure that it will reach you in one way or another. But - as I found it a bit inadequate - I could not bring myself to address you directly.

You have opened your letter with the beautiful words of [late exiled poet] Nazım Hikmet. I will resort to these words as well and say the following from the depths of my heart without adding anything else: When Turkey has just started to remember what solidarity, sharing and unity is, please do not abandon us, it is a basic need and a real need, indeed.

I am not a legist. But, I think that legists are at the top of the list of those facing the most difficult situation in such a hard period as this. Just imagine: In a country where the notion of justice has become something of the past and it is no longer possible to talk about a state of law, hopelessness and despair are inevitable. Nevertheless, under these circumstances, legists have to defend the rights of individuals by making efforts to the end and by probably already knowing that it would be to no avail. My friend Lawyer Fikret İlkiz has expressed it in following words:

"All this law that we have learnt, all these court cases, prisons, court verdicts and the halls of courthouses... The ones remaining firm amid all these prison visits, exchanged greetings, releases, arrests, sorrows, griefs, joys, requests, readings, problems and discussions on what needs to be done..."

And, as for me, I call it the following: In spite of everything...

In saying "in spite of everything", it is apparent that the situation of those who are not legists is difficult, too. You cannot speak or write, you cannot avoid speaking or writing, either. The pressure faced by us all is the harbinger of an unpleasant future. Just another heavy pressure on top of the one in the days of Corona... It is getting more and more difficult to access news, information and reality. In fact, a restriction on rights that would eliminate a common future is unacceptable. What is certain is this: Whoever keeps individuals under control will dominate, Niccolo Machiavelli once said. As for Nietzsche, when he said that "if life had an ultimate goal, it would already be reached," he was not actually saying something pessimistic because it is up to us to list the goals that we care about and to overcome fear.

What non-legists need to do is to follow the legists' struggle and support them to the end. Because, without them, even our existence is open to debate. To sum up, just as it is our duty to claim our rights and freedoms, it is also our duty to claim the usurped rights and freedoms of others.

The long and short of it, we needed them yesterday, we need them today and we will need them tomorrow as well. And, regardless of whether they are legists or not, solidarity needs to be prioritized above all else. In the face of calls for massacre, it is getting more and more important to consolidate peace, friendship and unity.

The death fasts of Grup Yorum music band members Helin Bölek and İbrahim Gökçek and that of Mustafa Koçak ended in death. Lawyers Aytaç Ünsal and Ebru Timtik said, "We have been on a hunger strike to say 'The rightful demands of our clients have become our demands, accept them'." In other words, they have demanded that the files of their clients be examined and the society understand that they have been convicted in an unlawful and unjust manner. They are now on a death fast. Their conditions of health are deteriorating with each passing day.

In such periods, it is of vital importance to solidarize, listen, exchange our problems, think together and extend the solidarity. I have a request from the attorneys of Aytaç Ünsal and Ebru Timtik: Can you please tell your colleagues that I want to address them. Yes, without a doubt, we need them, it will give us strength if they do not leave us, if they stand with us.

They should never doubt this: We need every single one of each other.

I, of course, respect the decision that they have taken. However, please, think about what I am saying. It is not important that we do not know each other. But, I am sure about one thing: The ones who would agree with what I say are more than estimated. I know it, I have no doubts about it.

The well-known and not well-known alike, the right to a fair trial is a fundamental right for all prisoners, whose exact number we cannot know. Everyone who lives in this country has to defend this right.

In the recent period, the solidarity going beyond differences and comprising everyone has increased. Let us not ignore it, let us share life without making little of anything and let us lay claim to our views together. (EU/SD)