CUMHURİYET BAYRAMI'NDA NE GÖRDÜM- WHAT I SAW ON REPUBLIC DAY

TÜRKÇE (For English text please scroll down.)

Ben bir canlandırma sanatçısıyım, onun için mesleğime uygun bir benzetme yapacağım. (Aslında bu benzetmeyi önce eşim yaptı, bunu belirtmemek haksızlık olur.)

Horton isimli bilgisayar grafiğiyle yapılmış bir canlandırma filmi vardı. (2008)

Bu filmde bir çiçeğin bir yaprağına yapışmış bir toz taneciğinin üzerinde bir dünya var ve bu dünyanın üzerinde “hu” (“who”) denen küçücük insancıklar yaşıyor. Koca kulaklı fil Horton her nasılsa “hu”’ların belediye başkanının sesini duyar, onunla konuşmaya başlar.  Fakat Horton’un çevresindekilerin bazıları “hu”ların varlıklarına inanmadıkları gibi, onun bu “uydurmalarına” sert bir şekilde karşı çıkarlar. Hele bilmiş, kendini beğenmiş, despot ruhlu bir kanguru var ki Horton’un aklını başına getirmek için çiçeği- “hu”’ların dünyasıyla birlikte- kızgın yağ kazanına atarak yok etmeye yeltenir.

'Hu''ların dünyası kızgın yağ kazanına atılmak üzere

‘Hu’’lar kendilerini kurtarmak için son ümit olarak tek sesten bağırırlar- olur a, belki seleri duyulur da son anda kurtulurlar! “BİZ BURDAYIZ!” derler, “BİZ BURDAYIZ!”

 "Burdayız! Burdayız! Burdayız!"

29 Ekim, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin en büyük bayramı olan “Cumhuriyet Bayramı” sadece birkaç gün geride kaldı.  19 Mayıs 2012’de “Tanklı toplu” bayramlara son verdiğini söyleyen Başbakanımız 30 Ağustos’tan sonra ikinci defa tankların, topların selamını aldı.

İşçi partisi, Ulusal kanal, Aydınlık gazetesi ve TGB Cumhuriyet’in kurulduğu eski meclisten Anıtkabir’e bir halk yürüyüşünü çoktan planlamış ve ilan etmişti. İhtimaldir ki, böyle bir hareket olmasaydı bu sefer de Cumhuriyet Bayramı’nı iptâl edecek bir gerekçe bulurlardı. Şimdiki durumda hipodrom dışındaki bütün kutlamaları yasaklayarak bir ara çözüme varacaklarını sandılar herhâlde! Sonra yasağın kalktığı söylendi. Sonra kalkmadığı söylendi. Sonra yine kalktığı! Sonra yine kalkmadığı!

29 EKİM 2012’DE ULUS MEYDANINDAKİ KALABALIĞIN ARASINDAYDIM VE BUNLARI GÖRDÜM: Orada binlerce insan vardı- yaşlılar, gençler, çocuklu aileler. 

Ulus meydanındaki "tehlikeli" kalabalık.

(Görüntü kendi objektifimden.)

Ellerinde Türk bayrakları ve üzerinde Atatürk’ün çehresi ile beraber TGB ve ADD harflerinin yazılı olduğu beyaz flamalar taşıyorlardı. Bazı gençler başlarına, üzerlerinde yurtsever sloganlar yazılı bantlar bağlamışlardı. Parlak bir güneş vardı, hava sıcaktı. Saat 11:00’de başlaması öngörülen yürüyüşü bekliyorlardı. Yolda polis barikat kurmuş, yürüyüşün başlama yeri olan eski meclisin önüne kimseyi bırakmıyordu. Aslında orada iki eski meclis vardır, hem Cumhuriyet’in kurulduğu birincisi hem ikincis; yanyanadırlar ve bugün müzedirler. Oralarda ne bir devlet dairesi, ne de bir kalabalıktan özellikle korunması gereken başka bir yapı vardır. Polis kalabalıkla eski meclis binasının arasına barikatlar kurmuş, elerinde kalkanlarıyla, başlarında miğferleriyle “etten duvar” örmüştü. Hazırda polis panzerleri bekliyordu. Eski meclisin önünde takım elbiseli siviller dolanıyoru- söylendiğine bakılırsa düğümü çözmeye çalışan CHP’liler varmış orada.

Yanımda siyah süeterli, boyunlarından sarı şallar sarkan üç hanım vardı- “Vardiya Bizde” platformunun giysisiymiş bu- hani tutuklu askerlerimiz var ya, onların eşleri, kardeşleri, yakın akrabaları. Her Cumartesi Beşiktaş’ta “sessiz çığlık” eylemini yapanlar. Bizim gibi onlar da İstanbul’dan gelmişler. “Şansımız varmış” dediler, “birçok otobüs ve hatta otomobil durdurulmuş!” (30 Ekim’in Aydınlık gazetesine göre 110’dan fazla; İçişleri Bakanı’nın yazılı emriyle.) “Şansımız varmış” dediler.Sonra olacakları hatırladıkça diyorum ki, gerçekten varmış!

Caddedin başından meydana gittiçe daha fazla insan akıyor, kalabalığı yoğunlaştırarak polis barikatına doğru itiyordu. Önlerde duranların bazıları polisle konuştu, bazıları geçebilmek için dil döktü, bazısı tartıştı. Sloganlar atıldı, Atatürk için, laiklik için, AKP’ye karşı, polise karşı (ama yalnız Fethullah Gülen bağlantısı gerekçesiyle), faşizme karşı (İşçi Partisi’nin daha solcu kökenlerinden günümüze aktarma).

İleriye doğru bir hamle oldu- saatlerden, günlerden, yıllardan beri biriken bir kurtulma içgüdüsü idi bu. Önce küçüktü, ama durmadı, devam etti. Polis karşılık verdi, harekete geçti, ve kalabalığın üzerine gaz püskürttü.

O gaz! Korkunç bir şeymiş meğer. Burnunuzu ve boğazınızı yakıyor ve nefes alamıyorsunuz! Ciğerinize oksijen çekebilmenin tek yolu oradan uzaklaşmak, ama o kalabalıkta uzaklaşamıyorsunuz ki!

 Gaz!
(görüntü medyadan)

O kalabalıktan yükselen çığlığı unutabilecek miyim? Bunlar kaşarlanmış teröristler değil, tehlikede olduğuna inandıkları Cumhuriyet'e desteklerini göstermek için toplanmış sade vatandaşlar ve birçoğu çocuklarıyla gelmiş ailelerdi. Koşmaya imkân vermeyen izdiham içinde ancak küçük adımlarla dalgalar hâlinde çekilebiliyorduk! Bir elimle eşimi, diğer elimle kameramı tuttuğumu hatırlıyorum! (Malesef ilk kargaşada kapanmış!) Gazı ciğerimden atabilmek için her nefeste bağırdığımı hatırlıyorum, ama her yeni nefeste ancak yine gaz giriyor! “Galiba burada bitiyor!” diye düşündüğümü hatırlıyorum. Sağımdaki bir adamın “benim astımım var!" dediğini hatırlıyorum. Ona “bağırın, bağırın, gaz çıksın!” dediğimi hatırlıyorum. Benden uzaklaşıp bir sütuna yaslandı, bir daha göremedim! Eşim bir çocuğun yere düştüğünü görmüş!

Her küçük adımda hava daha temiz oldu. Sonunda yoğunluk çözüldü ve hâla nefes alabiliyorduk.

Bazı TGB’li gençler bizleri karşılayıp yürüyüşün yine de devam edeceğini, Anıtkabir’e doğru yürümemizi söylediler. Napolyon’un Rusya hezimetinden dönen ordusu gibi kös kös, sarkmış bayraklarımızla kaldırım boyunca yürüdük. Bir pabucumu kaybettiğim için tek ayağımda sadece çorap vardı, nihayet yolda bir kunduracı gördüm ve yeni bir çift spor ayakkabı (mavi) aldım. Anıtkabir’e giden yolların da kapatılmış olduğundan emindim. Zaten toplanacak fazla kimsenin kalmamış olacağıını düşünüyordum.

Anıtkabir’e çıkan yolların apaçık olduğunu görünce şaşırdım! Bilirsiiniz oranın muhafızları (şimdilik hâla) polisler değil askerlerdir. Her zamanki güvenlik prosedürünü bile uygulamıyorlardı.

Orada binlerce insan vardı. Gazı yemiş olanlar, sadece duymuş olanlar, haberi olmayanlar, hep oradaydılar ve birlik içindeydiler. Yine Ulus meydanındaki karışım: aileler,gençler, yaşlılar, çocuklar, ellerinde bayraklar, üzerlerinde güne uygun tişörtler ya da şık kırmızı-beyaz karışımda giysiler. Burada ne tehdit vardı, ne de gerginlik. Nöbet değiştiren askerler kendi hallerinde, ama gösterişli adımlarla- geçerken zaman zaman alkış da aldılar. 

 Anıtkabir'de toplanan halk.

(Görüntü kendi objektifimden.)

Nöbet değişimi- gerginlik yok! Sağ arkada görülen grubun alkışını aldılar.

(Görüntü kendi objektifimden.)

 Gençler ve küçükler!

(Görüntü kendi objektifimden.)

Her zamanki sloganları burada da duyduk, bazıları hükümet için pek mültefit değildi. Cumhuriyeti korumak için tek ağızdan andlar içildi.

Ancak sonradan öğrendik ki biz Ulus meydanı’ndan süklüm püklüm dönmekteyken daha azimli yürüyüşçüler gaza ve basınçlı suya rağmen barikatları geçebilmişler. Bazı insanlar sıcak noktadan uzak olmayan Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’nun araya girerek barikatı açtırdığını söylüyorlardı. 1 Kasım 2012 tarihli Aydınlık bunu kategorik olarak yalanlıyor, Kılçdaroğlu’na kesinlikle prim vermiyor. Büyük ihtimalle AKP ileri gelenleri yaratılan olumsuz imajdan çekindiler.

Barikat geçilmiş ama basınçlı suya devam!

(Görüntü medyadan.)

Toplanmış olan halkın gösterdiği saldırganlık ve şiddet, barikatı zorla geçmeye çalışmak ve bazı sloganlardaki sert dilden ibaretti! Ayrılanların yerini yeni gelenlerin aldığı tıklımtıkış dolu Anıtkabir’de hiçbir şeye zarar verilmedi, hiç kimse incinmedi. Polis yoktu, taşkınlık da olmadı. Peki, neden korkuyorlardı ki? Polis hangi büyük tehlikeye karşı konuşlandırılmıştı?

Anıtkabir, 29 Ekim 2012
(Görüntü medyadan.)

Kurtarıcılarının, Cumhuriyet'lerinin kurucusunun koruyucu kollarına sığınmış gibi toplanan millet, barış içinde birlikteliği yaşadılar. Sloganlar ve marşlar ise dünyaya, evrene, Tanrı’ya gönderilen feryatlar gibiydi: Biz burdayız! Biz burdayız! BİZ BURDAYIZ! 

Biz burdayız! Biz burdayız! BİZ BURDAYIZ!

(Görüntü kendi objektifimden.)

Videoklipler- Videoclips

 Videoclip 1: Ulus Meydanı- Ulus square

 The images in these two videoclips are from my own camera.

Bu kliplerdeki görüntüler kendi objektifimdendir.

Videoclip 2- Anıtkabir- The Mausoleum

ENGLISH
The footnote links do not work; you will have to scroll down to to the footnotes for expanded information. There are just two footnotes here so it won't be much trouble.
Other links should work.


I am an animator, so I will start in animation terms! (Actually, for the following apt analogy, credit goes to my wife!)

There was a film called Horton Hears a Who, in CG animation, released 2008.

In it, there is an entire world of tiny, civilized beings- the “whos”- living on a speck stuck to a flower. Flappy-eared Horton the elephant somehow hears the voice of the mayor of these “whos”, communicates with them, but has little success convincing anybody else. That would not be so bad had it not been for a self-righteous, opinionated, domineering kangaroo who decides to cure Horton’s delusion by dropping the flower, speck and all, into a “pot of boiling beezlenut oil”!

 The world of the "whos" face a scorching end in boiling oil.

As a last, feeble resort to save themselves, the ‘whos’ shout in unison “We are here! We are here! WE ARE HERE!”, hoping that, if they shout loud enough, their tiny voices will be heard and they will be spared.

"We are here! We are here! We are here"

A few days ago, it was the 29th of October, Republic Day, the greatest national holiday in the country that is called The Turkish Republic. The said Republic was founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923, and is secular. The government in power (Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan’s AKP) pursues barely hidden fundamentalist Islamic aims, but holds a majority in parliament and has the backing of the Western powers, particularly the US, as a model for what they call “moderate Islam”. The idea seems to favor the creation of an Islamic Republic, a role model, perhaps even a shepherd for the Islamic world that will also remain the obedient servant of western, specially American, and most definitely “globalist” interests. A Muslim Guru named Fethullah Gülen, living in his Pennsylvania ranch, is the spiritual leader of the movement, which has reportedly been infiltrating the judiciary system and the police since the ‘90’s. 

The stage was set for a slow, sneaky revolution that would, in seemingly harmless steps, dismantle Atatürk’s secular, nationalist Republic in in favor of a theocratic, fundamentalist one, and perhaps even reinstate the Caliphate and- why stop there?- the Sultanate. Prime Minister Erdoğan’s references the Sultan Abdulmedjid and, more recently, Sultan Mehmet II the Conqueror (so glorified in the recent Turkish film Conquest 1453)[1] as “my grandfather” makes one wonder whether things might go so far.[2]

All of this may sound like a fantastic conspiracy theory, but with the hundreds of patriots behind bars- intellectuals, journalists, academicians, officers[3]- the alteration of the educational system, the increased emphasis on religious brainwashing- I can’t call it “education” or even “indoctrination" because of the way in which it is conducted[4]- and the progressive effacing of nationalist heroes, occasions, historic events give the lie to the AKP government’s claims that it is bringing our democracy up to date.

Since 2011  the government of the Turkish Republic has started cancelling the celebrations of national holidays of that same Republic, all the while pumping up religious occasions[5]. The first to go was August 30th, Victory Day, 2011, then October 29th, Republic Day, 2011. The people rose to the challenge- the supporters of the Kemalist Republic took to the streets and celebrated with fervor. Then came the 23rd of April, 2012- “National Sovereignity Day and Children’s Holiday”. Celebrations were officially reinstated, though a bit lackluster, but the traditional “International Children’s Festival” hosted by the TRT (Turkish Radio Television) made the most embarrassing presentation in its proud 34-year history- the dance performances of children’s groups from around the world were restricted to a minute each- including entering and leaving the stage- to allow extensive time for Turkish children attired as whirling dervishes rotating languidly to the music of Vivaidi. The whole presentation was over in an hour and a half, as opposed to the traditional three-plus.

May 19th was a sensitive one- celebrating Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk)’s embarkation on his struggle for independence which culminated in the founding of the secular national Republic and the end of the Empire and the Caliphate. Atatürk named May 19th “the day he was born”, therefore, more than any other holiday, it is associated with his name.[6] The Government canceled celebrations yet again.[7] The indignation was strong, reaction instant and determined. (It also prompted me to start this blog!) Celebrations were organized and widely and enthusiastically celebrated by various groups, such as the opposition CHP[8]!  The Labor Party, the sattelite channel Ulusal, the newspaper Aydınlık and the Union of Turkish Youth (TGB[9]) put together a particularly big march, with invited guest groups from abroad, a tactic which seems to have kept the police out of the way.[10] 

By August 30th Prime Minister Erdoğan was back at the podium, taking the salute of a military march-past, something to which he had just recently claimed to have put an end.[11] Public celebrations completed the day.

Well before the approach of October 29th, Republic Day, the Labor Party, the Ulusal channel, the paper Aydınlık and the TGB announced a public march from the old assembly building, where the Republic had been declared, to Atatürk’s mausoleum. The government announced celebrations would be heldd at the hippodrome (with a military march-past) and nowhere else. (It is by no means certain that there would be any official celebration at all if there hadn't been a public one being planned.) The Governor of Ankara[12] declared the public march illegal. Then there was news that the ban was lifted. Then that it wasn’t. Then that it was. Then that it wasn’t again.

ON OCTOBER 29TH 2012 I WAS IN THE CROWD AT ULUS SQUARE AND THIS IS WHAT I SAW: There were thousands of people. There were old people and young people. There were families with children. 

The "dangerous" crowd at Ulus Square.

(Image from my own camera.)

They held flags, and banners bearing the likeness of Atatürk and the letters TGB or  ADD (Society for Kemalist Thought[13]). Some young people had patriotic headbands. The sun was bright, the weather hot. They were waiting for the march, set for 11 o’clock, to begin. Many had been there for a long time, perhaps hours! The police had barricaded the street. They were letting no one through to the old parliament- now a museum- where our Republic had been founded.[14] They were wearing helmets, holding shields. There were police tanks at the ready. There were people in suits milling about behind them. Apparently, they were members of the opposition CHP, which backed the march,  trying to negotiate a way out of the standoff.

Next to me were three ladies in black sweaters with yellow scarves drooped around their necks. I learned that this was the costume of the “Vardiya Bizde”[15] platform, the wives and relatives of officers in prison. They told us of the “Silent Scream” protest they hold in Beşiktaş, İstanbul, every Saturday. Like myself and my wife, they had come from Istanbul. They were lucky, they said, because many buses and even cars had been stopped.[16] I guess we were lucky too. The way things turned out, we certainly were!

People were pouring into the square behind us, increasing the density on the square and pressing the crowd forward against the police line. Some talked to the police, some pleaded, some argued, some demanded to get through. There were slogans being chanted- for Atatürk, for secularism, for independence, against the AKP, against the police (for it’s alleged connections with Fethullah Gülen), against fascism (a carry-over from the Labor Party’s more obviously leftist earlier incarnation).

Then there was a push- an impulse to break through that had been welling up for hours- for months- for years. It was small but didn’t let up. The police reacted, moved in, and blasted gas onto the crowd.

That gas! It feels like your nostrils and throat are burning but that’s not the worst of it. You can’t breathe! The only way you can get oxygen is to move away, cough it out, and get some fresh air in. But you can’t move away just like that in a crowd![17]

Gas!
(image from the media)

Will I ever forget that shriek that came from the crowd as people tried to move away? Not a band of terrorists, but normal, decent people, families with children who were there to express their support for the Republic they perceived to be in danger. Too densely crowded to run, we could only move back in small steps, in waves, leaning against each other. I remember holding my wife with one hand, the camera with the other (which had unfortunately switched off in the turmoil)! I remember shouting with every breath to get the gas out- only to inhale more gas back in. I remember thinking “so it ends here!” I remember a man to my right saying “I have asthma!”. I remember saying to him “Shout! Shout! Get the gas out!” He moved away from me to lean on a column, and I left him behind! My wife remembers seeing a child tumble.

With every tiny step the incoming air became clearer. Eventually we were out of the crunch, and still breathing.

Some TGB youths met us, told us the march to Atatürk’s mausoleum would continue. Like Napoleon’s army retreating from Russia, we walked along the sidewalks, flags drooping, past watchful of groups of police. I plodded with one shoe, having lost the other, until we came upon a shop selling shoes, bought a pair of sneakers (blue). I was sure the roads leading up to the mausoleum hill would be blocked, and that very few would be remaining anyway.

Amazingly, the mausoleum, still guarded (for now) by the armed forces and not the police, was wide open. Even the usual security procedures had been waived.

There were thousands in there. People who had felt the gass, people who had just heard about it, people who knew nothing, were all were all united- again the usual mix of families, young people, old people, children, waving flags, dressed in topical T-shirts or in elegant compositions in red and white. Here there was no threat, here there was no tension. Changing guards marched benignly past the celebrating people, sometimes to applause. 

The people at the mausoleum.

(Image from my own camera.)

Changing of the guard- no tension. They received the applause of the group in the background, screen right.

(Image from my own camera.) 

 Young people and children.

(Image from my own camera.) 

The usual slogans were there, some not very complimentary to the government.There were vows, shouted in unison, to protect the Republic.

We earned only later that after our ignoble retreat from Ulus square, the more determined marchers had actually forced their way through the barricade, braving jets of pressurized water as well as more gas. Some credit Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the opposition CHP who was himself close to the hot point, for the eventual and belated leniency of the police. Aydınlık of Oct. 1st, flatly denies this and declines Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu any credit. More probably the AKP cadre feared the bad publicity all this was generating.

The barricade crossed, but pressurized water not letting up!

(image from the media.)

The attempt to push through the barricades and the sometimes harsh tone of some of the slogans were the only violence exhibited by the public that day. At the mausoleum, crowded to the brim even as some were leaving while others just were just arriving, nothing was harmed, no one was hurt. Where there was no police, there was no violence. What had they been afraid of? To avert what terrible danger was the police deployed? 

 The Mausoleum, October 29th, 2012

(image from the media.)

Psychologically in the embrace of its founder and saviour, the nation exprienced unity in peace. The chants, marches and slogans were nothing other than a desperate shout to the world, to the universe, to God: We are here! We are here! WE ARE HERE!
 

We are here! We are here. WE ARE HERE!

(Image from my own camera)

---

[1] Original title Fetih 1453, released 2012.

[2] While introducing a wildly ambitious “canal İstanbul project” during his campaign for re-election in June 2011, Prime Minister Erdoğan referred repeatedly to his “grandfather Abdulmedjit” as the originator of the idea. On  October 20th 2012, at a speech in Elazığ, while defending the reduction of the voting age to 18, he said “My grandfather Mehmet the Conqueror ended an age and started a new one when he was about that young”.

[3] See “The Flag and the Ribbon”, 30 May-Mayıs 2012, and "Sledgehammer Verdicts”,  22 September-Eylül 2012

[4] See “TheOath”, 22 September-Eylül 2012

[5] See “Ramadan,August, and Mr. Incredible", 17 August- Ağustos 2012.

[6] Of course, though not a holiday, Novemer 10th is even more closely associated with his name, being the commemoration of his death in 1938.

[7] See "May19th- Celebrating at All Costs”,  18 May- Mayıs 2012, “Cem Ryan on May 19th", 29 June-Haziran 2012.

[8] Republican People’s Party, original name Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi

[9] Türkiye Gençlik Birliği

[10] See “WeCelebrated- And How”, 20 May- Mayıs) 2012.

[11]“Let us be done with commemorating these meaningful days with worn-out poems and 1940-style parades in camouflage colours. Now we celebrate them according to their spirit, their essence, their ideals. No more tanks and cannons rolling by....” See “May 19th, Two Days After”, 22 May-Mayıs 2012

[12] Alaaddin Yüksel

[13] Atatürkçü Düşünce Derneği

[14] There are two old parliament buildings there, the first and the second, both museums today. The Republic was founded in the earlier one. The present day Parliament is in an altogether different neighbourhood. There is no government building or other sensitive area in the vicinity of the old parliaments.

[15] “Litterally, “Now it’s Our Shift”

[16] According to Aydınlık, Oct. 30th, 2012, more than 110 busses had been stopped and forced to return. Minister of Interior İdris Naim Şahin is reported to have issued a written order that all groups travelling to Ankara be stopped.

[17] Some of the foreign press, such as The Guardian,  has reported “tear gas”. From what I have experienced, the “tear” bit was only a slight discomfort in relation to suffocation.