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Reinventing Muş, one step at a time

Muş in eastern Turkey is a remote and little-known city synonymous among most Turkish people with social, geographical and other hardships. In addition to the general difficulties of life in eastern Turkey, there is a further reason behind the city’s reputation for misfortune: During World War I the Ottoman Empire sent troops to fight in Yemen. Reportedly, in an effort to ensure solidarity among the troops to be sent to the front (and thereby reduce the chance of desertion), the decision was given to send men from only one city. That city was Muş, and of all the men sent, not a single one returned. This tragedy is recorded in the folksong “Yemen Türküsü,” which recounts the grief of the mothers, sisters, wives and other loved ones left behind. And so Muş’s place in posterity as a scene of mourning was established. Thus, while many Turkish people might struggle to find Muş on the map, the city’s image is imprinted on their minds through the tragic folksong.

However, Muş need not carry this ill-fated image with it into the new millennium, not least because the younger generation is ready and willing to do its best to change the face of the city. A perfect example of this is the Young Steps association (Genç Adımlar Derneği).

Young Steps was founded in 2006 by a group of young Kurds with the aim of creating projects to contribute to Muş, encourage young people to get involved in the issues facing youth in the region, and enable them to actively participate in politics and decision making processes. In addition, the group planned to take action to contribute to human rights, democratization and intercultural interactions in the region. Initially no-one had a clear idea how to achieve these goals. After a detailed online search, answers began to emerge: EU projects funded through the Turkish National Agency. And that is exactly what Young Steps did.

With the funds provided by the Turkish National Agency it first rented an office in a block used mostly by lawyers, bought the necessary equipment to fit it out and began to organize projects that soon made it a leading youth NGO in Muş.

Youth Exchange Projects were established to develop intercultural and international dialogue between young people as well as providing a platform for sharing Muş’s cultural and historical wealth. Youth Initiative Projects were initiated to raise awareness of various subjects, such as drug abuse among the young, the importance of NGOs and political participation, protecting cultural and historical heritage, etc. It also held a Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU) funded symposium: “Where are we as NGOs in the adaptation process for EU reforms?”

In addition, it participates in the policy making processes of the region through gatherings like the Youth Employment Meeting for the East Anatolian Region. Seminars like these gather together around 100 young people from cities across the region with local policy makers and businessmen, enabling them to share ideas and find solutions to problems.

Last but not least, through partnerships with many European countries, it sends dozens of young people abroad each year. For instance, during 2011, 32 young people were able to visit Romania, Spain, Macedonia and France with the support of Young Steps. These projects are open to young people from across Turkey, not just Muş. In fact, applications have even been received from relatively wealthy cities in the west of Turkey, such as İzmir.

Young Steps’ participation in the policy making processes in Muş and the relationships it has built with the governor and mayor, in addition to many other institutions in the city, demonstrate the association’s influence in the city. Such is its effectiveness, some NGOs in the city were left without function, eventually shutting down, while others were forced to up their game and developed as a result of the competition, says founding member Bülent Bingöl.

Acting for Muş and the local environment in no way prevents it from being a universal organization. Rather, it represents an intersection of local and international NGOs. For instance, Muş’s Amnesty International representative is one of the founders of Young Steps, and the international aid organization uses the association’s address as its local branch in Muş.

Young Steps was founded by young, democrat Kurds who believe in the virtue of human rights, democratization and intercultural interaction, and who do their best to overcome prejudices between cultures. As Bingöl notes: “There is prejudice against Turkish people in Europe and there is prejudice against Kurdish people in Turkey. This situation increases the importance of our cultural diversity projects, which make young people in the region understand that they are not alienated or discriminated against.”

Although life is more difficult in eastern Turkey due to insufficient access to many social and economic opportunities and political hardships caused by the conflict between the status quo and the armed Kurdish movement, these young Kurds believe it is high time to abandon complaints of being disadvantaged by the state. They neither angle for sympathy nor rebel, and similarly they do not align themselves with either the armed Kurdish movement or the administration. They know they are not the only ones facing difficulties; people around the country have their own hardships. Accordingly, they have adopted a philosophy that “opportunities are equal” and take legal and mature action for the solution of their problems.

Young Steps is a successful example of increasing political participation by young people brought about partly through the increasing democratization of Turkey over the past decade. They have successfully seized the opportunity presented by improving communication tools and the widespread use of the Internet. This is further boosted by growing awareness of the importance and power of NGOs, thanks in part to Turkey’s EU candidacy. In short, Young Steps is not only challenging the old image of Muş and building a new one, but is also providing a forum for the city’s young, international opinion leaders.

The Young Steps can be reached through their 

website: http://www.gencadimlar.org.tr

"Demand the possible but the perfect one!" Meet the Young Civilians

Demanding the possible but the perfect one

The word on the street is that the Young Civilians are uncomfortable. What everyone is asking themselves is why? What makes them feel that way? The answer is not complex. They just question the official ideology to which they have been exposed and are bothered by what they see. In order to understand them we need to return to the foundation of the Republic of Turkey.

The Western and modern Republic of Turkey was born from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire thanks to a couple of “Westernized” and “enlightened” members of the military, who would later be termed the bureaucratic elite. This bureaucratic elite imagined a people similar to those in the West. They believed that the more Westernized Turkish society became, the more enlightened and modernized it would be. Therefore they did not hesitate to ban the ordinary practices of Turkish people and force them to adopt a new “Western” lifestyle. They banned the language, belief, clothing and alphabet of traditional Turkish people outright in an effort to sever their roots in the past. In their view this change should have been applied overnight, but most of the people did not agree with them. This eventually led to several disputes between the bureaucratic elite and the people.

Problems stemming from the Jacobin nature of Turkish modernization remain. And the Young Civilians are uncomfortable because of the military domination of social and political life, as well as the legitimacy of a concept of citizenship that is given only to secular “white” Turks (secular, Sunni, Turk: the Turkish WASP).

The Young Civilians as a new political actor in Turkey

With the entrance of the Young Civilians onto the political scene in the wake of the “e-coup” of 2007, Turkish democracy witnessed a new political debate, one which became a hallmark for democrats and non-democrats alike. Some writers and columnists, hitherto known as “democrat,” had difficulty opposing the most recent military intervention, which targeted the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The best most were able to say was “Neither Shariah nor coup,” meaning that if there was the threat of Shariah, a military coup would be the lesser evil. However, the Young Civilians introduced the expression “Neither coup nor coup” to Turkish democracy. They meant that there can be no reason legitimizing military intervention in democratically elected government. In this sense, the Young Civilians claimed “the conjunction ‘but’ is the joint offender in Turkey,” giving the following examples: “It is sad that Hrant Dink was murdered, but he shouldn’t have challenged Turkey” and, “Coups are evil, but the AK Party would introduce Shariah without them.” Accordingly, the Young Civilians demand a “but-free” democracy.

Actually, the Young Civilians are indicators and instigators of change in Turkish society, something which became apparent with the attempted military intervention of 2007 – the so-called e-coup. This attempt differed from previous coups in terms of the resistance it faced. This significant resistance demonstrated that the legitimacy of coups was being challenged. There were demonstrations, manifestos and marches in protest, which contributed significantly to the uninterrupted continuity of democracy in 2007. Young Civilians was the first group to protest the intervention, even before the government voiced its own strong objection to the army’s memorandum. Besides their own protests, manifestos and petition campaigns, they also collaborated with other groups. They were one of the leading groups of approximately 20 nongovernmental organizations that cooperated under the coalition of “70 Million Steps Against Coups” (Darbeye Karşı 70 Milyon Adım), organizing a huge march on June 21, 2008, in İstanbul. Approximately 7,000 people of different ages, genders, occupations, social status and political ideology ignored all their differences and united against the coups.

A unique voice

One of the most distinguishing features of the Young Civilians is the peculiar and sarcastic language they favor, which mixes popular culture with humor. An example was their famous presidency candidate, Aliye Öztürk. In a move aimed at criticizing opposition to the presidency of Abdullah Gül in 2007, they created the imaginary presidency candidate Aliye Öztürk, “a female scholar who lost her job because she wears a headscarf. She is a little bit Turkish, a little bit Armenian and a little bit Kurdish. And she is also Alevi. Namely she is one of us.”

Turgay Oğur, the media and public relations representative for the Aliye Öztürk campaign, stated at a press conference meeting that, “rather than ‘who can be president,’ we’ve been talking about ‘who cannot be president,’ in marked contrast to other democratic societies.” He also underlined that Aliye Öztürk was totally different to the predefined “legitimate” citizen of Turkey; thus, she was exactly the sort of person who couldn’t be president. The Young Civilians made this “unacceptable” Turkish citizen incarnate. She symbolized all the groups in society who lacked access to the opportunities provided to legitimate citizens. By doing so, the Young Civilians broadened the borders of democracy from “for secular white Turks only” to “democracy for everyone.”

Awareness-based activism

Both the structure of their organization and the variety of their members demonstrates that they also apply this standard to themselves. They have members from the full spectrum of Turkey’s social, political, economic and ethnic groups, as well as believers and non-believers. What brings them together is their awareness. They remain united in spite of all their differences, due to their opposition to any kind of inequity or injustice. They give the same democratic reaction to the abuse of people’s rights, regardless of whether those people are Kurdish, Armenian, Turkish, believer, non-believer or headscarf wearing.

In addition, they do not have a hierarchical structure. The Young Civilians originated online and remains Internet-based; it has no president. It simply has members and event-based speakers. Anyone from the e-mail group can participate in their decision making meetings and contribute. In short, they not only demand some “utopian things,” but also try to realize these demands within their own organization.

1968 generation and the Young Civilians

In short, the twin pillars of the Jacobin Turkish democracy of the early 1920s – the sole legitimacy of military domination and secular white Turks – began to be challenged in the early 2000s. In other words, the so-called Turkish democracy – the “gift” of the founding elites – is transforming into a genuine democracy. And the Young Civilians are a potential instigator of this change. Gökhan Özgün, a leading columnist in Turkey, thinks that it is the achievability of the Young Civilians’ demands which so irritates the authorities. “The slogan of the movement of 1968 was ‘Demand the impossible!’” he remarked. “Although it seemed like a very aggressive and radical statement, the rulers or authorities were not uncomfortable with that slogan, since ‘the impossible’ was not something they could give. However, the Young Civilians demand ‘the possible but perfect.’ And this is challenging for the rulers and authorities.”

The Young Civilians are uncomfortable

The Young Civilians movement predates its own name: They group organized a gathering at Parliament on May 19, 2003, in protest of the style of the festivities held to mark the May 19 national holiday; Youth and Sports Day. Some time later, Cumhuriyet daily published a story claiming that the “young officers” of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) were “uncomfortable” about several things, including the aforementioned protest.

In 2006, the as-yet unnamed group titled their report on the Kurdish issue “The Young Civilians are Uncomfortable.” The title became even more famous than the report itself and gave the organization its new name: the Young Civilians.

Contacting the Young Civilians

Online: www.gencsiviller.net

(Remember, the Young Civilians is an online organization: to subscribe to

their newsletter is to become a Young Civilian.)

Tel.: +90 212 251 89 49

Fax: +90 212 310 46 76

The fax line is usually busy – be patient!

Interview with Iara Lee

Let’s start with the footage that you could save it hardly ....

Yes. In this time and age it is a media war and the most of the contain is evidence about what really happened. So I think all film makers and journalists, they have to feel very responsible because we have this big role of trying to bring the truth forward in this world which is a world of lies and a world of manuplation of media. Obviously, the Israelis knew that because the first thing they did is to stop our communication systems and satellite only after that they came and attacked us in the dark in international waters.

They stole our footage and they went to their IDF office and watched it. They pool footage from our materials and then load upon on the IDF youtube channel. My friends from Norway, all the countries were like "I saw the footage on IDF channel." I can’t believe it you know. So not only they are criminals, they are theives too. It's just crazy. They have the audacity. The communtiy protect journalists and all the international federations of journalists and all these organizations protested and said this is very emetical. Press people first of all should be treated differently. Some of my friends said they went to be journalist and they said "we're media, we're press and then the soldiers would be what so what!!” Like that you know. This is really emetical because journalists are supposed to be respected as the "carriers of the truth.” But obviously if the truht is the last thing you want to come out, the journalists would be the first to be prosecuted.

I think having you on Mavi Marmara is really a luck. You could save the footage and make all of us see what happened. The sense of the fear or the hopelessness, everything is so clear in that footage....

Yeah, life is very strange hah?

I got really impressed with that footage. In addition, I understood that I am not the only one who thinks so. When I share it through my face and twitter accounts, people watch it too much and I have positive feedbacks. It hits the target I think.

I am very happy to hear because I think hmmm –like may be – the strange of this, I was in this the small boat and it broked out. So in the middle of the water, they transfered me to the other you know. So I was not originaly registered ....

Really?

Yes:) And I was happy you know because of like "Woow! This is the main boat." We have all the nationalities represented and I was so happy because I could interview with people from Kuwait, from Lebanon, from Balkans, from South America, Asia, Malaysia. And I heard so many beautiful stories. The half hour of the footage we have loaded as you noticed is very eery because of it's like the Titanic. Everbody was just sleeping, and praying, and they are so calm but you know what is coming next. So when you watch this half hour you just be like "Oh my God! You are so relax.” They have no idea what is coming! And then, all of a sudden, everything changes and just blood, and peals and shots and all that. It was really sain you know.

It points out the manuplation of Israel ...

Yees, yees!!

The difference between what they wanted us to see and what actually happened is very clear in that footage.

Yees, yees!!

This is not your first activism, rigth?

Noo, have been many!!

You have been involved in many many actv....

Yeees! Absoulutely!! Just happens that most of the time I am managed to stay safe and sound but this time around there was very big mortality you know. But I have been in many different conflict countries, post-conflict countries.....

It is like the exchange project between Iran and the West, right?

Yeah. Just try to follow peace through arts and culture, music, film, photography, dance, you know.

How did you decide to involve in Mavi Marmara?

Because I have already been Gaza in January with their Gaza freedom march. They only allowed few people to go because we were 1400 people and Mubarek's governments said "No, nobody is going." So we made a lot of manifestations and demonstrations and then the Mubarek's wife said "OK. Just a small group can go to represent the Gaza freedom march.” I was one of that and then I saw first hand the distruction and the prisinors and I was like "Woow!" This is more obligation you know to witness that these people were treated like collective punishment! According to the law, this is illegal to just mistreat everybody becasue Israel doesn’t like Hamas. It is just not acceptable.

So there they decided to keep registering. I was supporting the Gaza flotilla and then they fired to got the logistics sort about and then I got e-mail saying "We are finding go again upset." I am going too:):) I wanted to bring my soundman, my cameraman, production coordinator and they said "There is no space. Only you and cameraman may attend. “Ok!!”:) And we wanted to make a film about flotilla, a full film you know but unfortunately ..

It’s coming soon? :)

:) Unfortunately just the footage! So at least we were able to show the attack but I had beautiful interviews with people from all over the world and it could be a very good film.

Are you making a documetary or a film now?

So now I have to go back to re-interview everybody in their own countries is a lot more difficult. At this moment, I am trying more to focus on legal issues. How we can use international law just to stop Israelis from continuing these kinds of behaviour. And we are also working on a book coming on in July with many amazing writers from USA and some of the people who participated in flotilla. So we are just creating lots of different deduce and objects and projects to continue to the work.

Do you plan to attend another flotilla if it is prepared?

Yees!!

Or, are you going to be on the side with legal pressure on Israel? What kind of activisim are going to be participating?

Well, in fact I am from Brazil and I was the only Brazilian. When I put on Facebook "Oh may be we’re preparing a Brazilian ship." In half hour had 50 people!! "How can I help by the ship? How can I help ....?" I was like "Oh my God. Slow down!" There is lots of fact and it is complicated you know. But I take people all over the world; now, they are more aware. I think we have a higher chance of having bigger flotilla, more people, more countries represented. And when I met the president of IHH, he said if we had another flotilla, we would be at least 50 ships. This last one was big but not big enough but Israel said "well, if you guys have another flotilla and try to have like some government protect you. This is the decleration of war!!!" Oh. We had this lecture about people who participated and never is just gonna talk with the near people. They come with sized, they said "Sink the ship. Sink the ship." They just killed 9 people and they come with just "Sink the ship." It is like no humanity. How can people be so cruel? But I guess we just have to keep persevering and not you'll depress, not feel like at all overwhelmed and just have like slowly you know, continue. Because people are afraid. People just so scared and the Israelis are like the best bullies. They managed to make every body scared, like I won't be the foundation and people in my foundation are like "Ahhh this is too big for us!!!"

And on the other hand, the only scared is not the volunteers and the civil people but also Israel. May be we cannot use the term "scare" for them but they are aware that the whole public opinion in the world is almost against them and they are in a kind of panic seemingly. They say that "OK we are not gonna appologize” –publicly they say this of course— but they are trying to ease the blockade more and more and day by day.

Right, right...

I think it is a very good chance to make a diplomatic pressure on them. So do you have some extra thing other than "another flotilla"? May be in your local area or it may be on international scale, are there any other "diplomatic" ways of activism or the sort of things?

Yees! I guess our baby step is to work with international lawyers and then start mobilizing more people. In two weeks we had 500,000 people on Facebook. But the problem is the momentum. When there is breaking news everybody is like "Wooow! We condemn. We condemn." But then afterwords everybody changes. So how can we keep building so that this movement for justice is continuous not just like a burst of energy and then everything goes down. We need more people :) So, "one?" is not gonna do it, we need millions of people.

I was with the member of parliament from Germany, and she said she is gonna go to Geneva. There is a meeting with the UN on July the 19th. So she is gonna try to go their peer pressure apparently. They are also trying to get the German government to do something in a more official fashion. And I think everybody has to pressure their own governments. How myself as a dual citizen. I know Brazil is very committed and supporting Palestinians and supporitng justice but in the USA it is a disaster, it is a total disaster. Now the Supreme Court even came up with the saying that if you speak to someone who is in the terrorist list, you are considered criminal. And then people like “Oh, so, you consider Jimmy Carter because he went to speak to Hamas so is he a criminal?” Because that way is we need to do. Because diplomacy is about speaking to the enemy. So that would be the need to do to communicate with opposing forces and not be like isolating. But the USA government and the congress and they are just like a sold-out. There is really a lobby pays for them to get elected so they are trust and their commitment is to belong there get them elected.

Yeah. In the population, the Jews are around 2-3% but their lobby is too strong.

Yees, Yees!!

But you have the power as a filmmaker. You may have lose your real footage but do you have a plan of making a film. It is not like a documentary you know it is just a...

The fiction flim.

Yes. Becasue the Jews are making their policies known by everyone by their films.

Right, right.

The Jewish people, they are really...

Controlling the Hollywood, controlling all the broadcast companies, controlling the newspapers, right?

They foster the emphathy to the Holocaust and get the public opinion on their side with their films and they are really good at that. And may be you can use that power and you can make a film....

Yeah, yeah. Sometimes I am more like a lawyer and people are like "You're a filmmaker!! You should make more films!!" :):) May be you are right:)

Isn't it the same with Americans? Even the Vietnam War was one of their failures, they really advertise it well and make their PR by saying "OK. We may have done this but we also know how to appologize." So it may be effective if you film it? Who knows, you may win the Oscar :)

How do you going to see these things but half of the truth is though. But I think you are right that having the camera in the right place in the right time or in the wrong place in the wrong time. It's probably a very important thing because, you know, like the Burmese monks. Nobody had any information about Burma. But then when they start with these little like a telephone cameras or twitter or things like that, the information came out. Same thing we meet in Iran when they were beating up the people on the street, everything was blood but they still manage to send through twitter, Facebook and this and that. So I think definitely media is a very important tool to change the political situations all around the world. We should really use that and be very responsible because a lot of journalist unfortunatelly just take this as a career. But this is not a career, this is like a very important role that you have to play for society.

Then I get that your activist character is more apparent or ...

Yeah, definitely!! Filmmaking is just a vehicle for the socail change and the justice movement. It is more important to use like books, like films, like photography and music for change. When I was young, I was very attracted to art for artsy, how is the art important for sake. And then as I grow older, I thought "No, art should be for justice, for peace." So it has been an evolution you might like. And I feel now, it is time to get all the artists to be more committed. It's not just about art and fancy or ... :):)

It’s about to use this as a veichle to express your feelings, your ideas for change...

Yes and I think it is more like it touches people because it is more direct. For instance, sometimes political analyst can write hundred pages of analysis, very intelligent, but it does not relate the issue for everyone as a film does. Also, it should be such a music, it is a photograph, it's very powerful, right? So we are gonna keep working with a lot of artists and try to use all these elements to get people more interested in socail movement.

I see. Like everyone, the raid to Mavi Marmara took my attention to Israel-Palestine conflict and resulted in learning more about it. I tried to follow both national and interantional media, videos posted on twitter, Facebook, blogs and so on. And I realized that the information shared through the social media is doing a great job. In addition, the case that you can reach any kind of information which is filtered through “personal experiences” is very impressive I think. People wonder about how other people like themselves, the “common people,” evaluate things. So that I decided to activate my blog which I opened in 2009 but wrote nothing till now. I’ve already began blogging and for sure I’m very excited about blogging this interview too :)

Excellent!!!

Is there anything that you wanna add more that I can help to widespread it through this interview:):)

:) Yeah, I wanna figure out how it is possible to focus the genereous people's energy into something like coherent work. Because I feel everybody ask "I wanna help out but how?" and I try to figure out how we can integrate everybody's desire to be a part of this movement. So we are not just discussing online but actually getting things done. So we should all collaborate and get all the bloggers and Facebook, twitter users to kind a create a movement of gross and ..

Then can I understand this like "All bloggers! Unite!":):)

Yees! We need to work together and figure out the ways where many people MEAN something. But it is tough! Like we were not more during the Iraq war. More millions of people on the street! And what did the government do? Ignorance! "We are taking Iraq, we don't care." So it is very frastrating. We need to stay strong and committed. And the peace movement also goes sometimes up and down, up and down. We need to praise some sort like situation where the movements just keeps growing, and some others up and down and up and down. Though, we have plenty of wars. I mean we should all be very busy because like this time around for example Obama. We should look at the numbers. He is spending more money, sending more troops and more military bases than Bush!!! Everybody is saying, everybody voted for Obama because the Bush administration was awful. But in reality, Obama is to leave any wars. Killing all these people in Afganistan, we're still occuping Iraq, it is very bad you know. So ...

Then can we say "Obama, you couldn't!" :)

:):):) Right. I guess he has his hands hired all. May be personally he thinks differently but publically he is not doing the right thing and people getting more and more frustrated. But I think also it is a fantacy that governments can create the revolution in want. It is not the government. It is only the people that can really have an effect on this.

I am also one of your friends on your Facebook:)

Oh good, excellent:)

You have many frineds in your account. How effective do you think it is?

I think more people should use the wall to interact. I feel sometimes a lot of people on Facebook like 5000 but not everybody is like posting, and sharing. People are little shy sometimes hah?:) But we need to get a network which is going in full directions but it is little conk. Because like you have the Facebook friends but you don't know what country they are from, sometimes their directly mail address...

It's a very big pool. It makes feel like "Ok, I am talking with how many people?" You don't know..

Right, it's difficult.

People may be shy writing on the walls and may be they don't wanna say "I am here" or so ..

No, definitely. We need to get people to be less shy:):) Come out of the closed:) It's hard also it's so confrontational. People, they free to use frontly but they don't wanna be public you know. That is the other problem too. But it is time for everybody to come out of the closed:):) and fight together:):)

Güneşi Gördüm

Mahsun Kırmızıgül'ün yönetmenliğine olan önyargım ve film hakkında sağdan soldan kulağıma gelen yorumlar nedeniyle şimdiye kadar izlememiştim Güneşi Gördüm'ü. Filmin çok da orijinal olmadığı, resmi ideoloji ezberini tekrar eden bir film olduğu hakkındaydı genelde karşılaştığım yorumlar. Geçen hafta televizyon kanalları arasında gezinirken bir kanalda henüz yeni başlamış olduğunu gördüm ve fırsat bu fırsat deyip izlemeye koyuldum.

Fakat dedikleri kadar resmi ideolojiyi tekrarlayan, eleştirmekten uzak bulmadım filmi.

Kürt halkının yaşadığı sıkıntıları, devlet ve örgüt ideolojisi arasındaki sıkışmışlığı, sağlıktan eğitime pek çok alandaki yoksunlukları, göçe mecbur edilmenin zorluklarını aktarmada başarılı buldum. Özellikle de bir sahne vardı ki bence filmin özeti o sahnede gizli.

Memleketlerinde yaşayabilecekleri her türlü zorluğu yaşayıp üzerine bir de göçe mecbur bırakılmış bir ailenin en yaşlı ferdi olan dede, en küçük torunun talihsiz ölümünün ardından diğer torunlarının devlet tarafından yuvaya yerleştirileceğini öğrenir. Artık torunlarının devletin koruması altında olacağını, onlara devletin bakacağını öğrendiğinde donup kalır ve korku ve dehşet dolu bir ifadeyle "devlet mi" der. Halin söyleyebildiğinin dilin söyleyebildiğini aşıp geçtiği bu sahne bence filmin özetidir.

Tabii bu sahne gücünü sadece o dehşet dolu ifadeden almaz, o ifadedeki dehşeti daha görünür kılan başka bir hikaye ile kıyasından alır.

Mecburi göç yolculuğu Norveç'te bitmiş olan diğer ailenin başına nasıl "devlet kuşu" konduğunun hikayesidir kıyası yapılan. Bu hikayede ailenin küçük oğlunun mayına basarak kopan ayağı Norveç'te kanunlara uygun ve insanca(!) bir hayatın kapılarını açar aileye. 12 Eylül darbesinin ardından Norveç'e yerleşmiş olan ve 25 yıldır orada yaşayan erkek kardeş abisine Norveç devletinin onları kabul ettiğini, oğlanın tedavi masraflarını karşılayıp bir de kendilerine maaş bağlayacağını anlatır İstanbul'daki dedeye torunlarının devlet korumasına alındığı anlatılırken. Ve İstanbul'daki "devlet mi" diyen dehşet ve korku dolu ifade yerini Norveç'de "maaş mı? Çalışmadan devlet bize maaş mı verecek? Niye ki?" şaşkınlığına bırakır. Filmin resmi ideolojiye getirdiği en sağlam eleştirinin bir özeti olur böylece kıyas üzerine kurulu bu sahne.

Ancak Güneşi Gördüm'ün askerler için aynı eleştirelliği gösterebildiğini söylemem. Askerlik yapmadım ama yapanlardan çok dinledim kurduğu 3 kelimelik bir cümlede bile en az 5 kez

küfretmeden konuşmayan komutanları. Oysa filmdeki bütün komutanlar o kadar beyefendi, o kadar kibar, düşünceli ve babacan ki onlara hayran kalmamak elde değil. Öyle ki bir komutan köylülere köyü boşaltmaları gerektiğini derin bir üzüntü içinde tebliğ ederken kendi memleketinde onlara iş bulmayı bile vadediyor. Ve köylüler göç yoluna çıktıklarında öyle bir muhabbet içinde sarılıp ayrılıyorlar ki izlerken gözlerin yaşarmaması mümkün değil.

Repliklerin yüksek oranda mesaj kaygısı içeriyor olması ise filmin başından sonuna çok rahatsız edici. Çoğu "eğitim şart" klasikliğinde klişe mesajlar verme kaygısından kurtulamamış replikler çünkü.

Bir diğer "sok gözüne parmağı" tadında olan şey de hikayenin ortasına yerleştirilmiş olan gay karakteri. Filmin akışı içinde onun hikayesi unutulmuş da aralarda kamera ona dönmüş sanki. Ne ara o kadar hızlı yol alıp kardeşlerinin bile yolda gördüklerinde tanıyamayacağı bir hale geldiğini takip edemedim doğrusu. Gay kardeş karakteri de mesaj verme kaygısının bir yansıması gibi: "bunca dramın içinde bir de böylesi var" denmek istenmiş sanki.

Velhasıl beğendiğim ve beğenmediğim yönleriyle benim izlediğim Güneşi Gördüm böyleydi. İzlerken "lanet olsun bir türlü "açılamayan" şu "açılıma"" demekten kendimi alamadım. Filmin sonunda verilen bilanço da cabası .... Umarım artık Güneşi Gördüm gibi filmler "True Story" (Yaşanmış Öykü) olmaktan çıkar da filmin sonunda gerçeklerin acı yüzüyle bir kere daha karşılaşmış olmanın üzüntüsü yerine harika bir kurgu izlemiş olmanın büyüsü ya da nefes nefese bir macera filmi izlemiş olmanın heyecanıyla kalkarız koltuklarımızdan.

"Ağaç Kurdu"

"Ağacın kurdu ağaçtan olmasa, ağaca zeval olmazdı." Bu Kürt ata sözünü ilk defa Mehmet Uzun'un Dicle'nin Sürgünleri kitabında okudum yıllar önce. Çok severek okuduğum bu kitaptan şu anda aklımda kalmış olan iki şey var: Hüzünlü bir hikayenin ihtişamlı bir anlatımı ve bu atasözü.

Her deyim, her atasözü yılların birikimiyle, başka başka hikayelerin ve tecrübelerin katkısıyla yoğrulmuş "bilgelik" yansımaları. Sebep ve sonuç ilişkisi arasında benzerlikler görülen belki de binlerce kez tekrarlanmış ve "tecrübeyle" sabitlenmiş hayat dersleri...

"Ağacın kurdu ağaçtan olmasa, ağaca zeval olmazdı... "

İç burkan bir anlama, o zevalin acısını içimde hissettiren bir söz bu. İnsana acı veren, üzüntü veren, dertlendiren her ne varsa kendisinden bir parça değil midir aslında? Ya da kendisinden olmasa, o kadar yakar mı canını?

Kürtler, Türkler, Ermeniler mesela. Birinin tarihinden, coğrafyasından, kültüründen, hayat hikayelerinden bir diğerini çıkarıp atmak mümkün mü? Birbirinin tarihine, kimliğine karışmışlığı yok saymak, neyin kime ait olduğunu ayrıştırabilmek mümkün mü? Mümkün olsaydı bu kadar acı vermezdi bu zeval kimseye. Ya insanın kendisiyle kavgaları, soruları, sorgulamaları? Kendi ruhunda birbiri içine geçmiş hikayeleri, o hikayelerin kahramanları? Mümkün değil ayrıştırmak onları da ya da kurtulmak bazılarından. Her biri bir kurdu can ağacının.

O halde geriye "yaram yarim, yarim yaram" deyip bağra basmak kalıyor her birini, dermanı derdin içinde aramak... Yazmak, paylaşmak da derde ya da dermana ortak etmek başkalarını. Böylece ya acıyı hafifletmek ya da şifayı ve sevinci çoğaltmak için paylaşmak.

"Ağaç Kurdu"nun bloguna hoşgeldiniz…