Scorching Girls and Elevating Culture

I would like to tell those who will possibly feel irritated upon reading this piece that I will never apologize for my words; and no power can make me do so. Millions of female children are getting married. According to Murat Yetkin's work on Hurriyet Daily, each minute around 27 female children are getting married. I don't want to keep it narrow, just because as many male children are also forced to marry. Turkey is trying to get a full member of EU; its foundation principles are based on 'being a western country'; the result is that we are competing in the lowest of low. What makes this sickening culture still thrive even though millions object to it?

In general terms, majority of Turkish people are peasant or coming from a peasant family -taking into consideration my family still lives in a village- In an average Turkish gene there is nomadism in one form or another. We can easily see that in the last six decades it has been promoted to move from village to a metropol; vice versa is viewed nonsense. Therefore in order to keep their sons with them considering their senile and highly probable need for care, rural families would rather force their son to settle down next to -hierarchically below- them. This process is carried out 'before he starts to see things'. You may pay a visit to villages in Turkey and see some 20-year olds with a little guy beside them calling 'Baba(Dad)'. Most probably you have been able to grasp that young man should have married to a 'younger' lady just to enhance control over her. Years passing, and a big family with a dozen of children live so happily, of course not in a sense that we fools can understand.

Girls? Not a big deal... In most of the Middle Eastern countries they are deemed to be worthless goods that should exchange as soon as possible. If you are westerner, it must be hard to visualize it; so, I will illustrate it. How soon that could be? Well... There used to be some case namely 'Beşik Kertmesi', by which the children are in a way 'marked as engaged' before they were born, or a couple of months after they were. Crazy, isn't it? In some part of Balıkesir (a Western town in Turkey) a father agreed her daughter to marry a man just in return for his debt. Ages? Female: 13 Male:30s. This happened in front of me in 2006. By the way 6 years after that event our schools started to use computer aided education programs as a token of modernity. After a certain age, female child is seen as a burden in a villager family; before that age as a pet.

One more gory fact of modern Turkey is 'namus (virtue)'. A lady is expected to be virgin while getting married; but it is not even questioned when it comes to male. This may seem normal to a psycho eye, take this. Some months ago, a young lady -commonly considered too old in Turkey, though- got divorced her husband whom she was most probably smoothly persuaded to marry. She came to his 'father's home' which had never ever been hers. In her days her cousins raped her. She could not tell her father. She was pregnant, and had to tell then. The family council that is excessively religious decided she was guilty and must righteously be killed. They did so. Oh, her guilt? Come on she was female. Isn't it the biggest mistake in Middle East, blessed by all Gods.

The only thing that never changes...

Today my topic is change. As an instructor of language(English) I would rather start with a definition of the word change, with my own humble words. Firstly, it is a verb that is ergative -can be Transitive and Intransitive-. I sometimes feel admiration towards English language. The verb change creates that feeling on me. "You can change" This sentence means you can alter or modify something, or even replace something. At the same time, you can be a different person. Here my point is you can change things only by changing.

Generally at the ages around 18-22, youngsters die to change things. It is a difficult job, though. They may want to change their world; to make it 'theirs'. I did it, too; more violently than my close friends. Of course, I was not successful. When you achieve to change the world, you realize that the only person who can follow your rules is you - and even you can make some faults. That planet you have created, is lack of something very important that is a core. If you start changing from the surface, you can get nowhere. And this is valid for the state works as well. Imagine -even though you don't need to in Turkey- you change the sign of a building and leaving the paper work inside. Or a wicked lady with a good make-up. More common example; just wetting your hands after using bathroom to show your girlfriend that you have 'washed' your hands. The gist should be the first to change.

When I was at high school I had a very broad-minded philosophy teacher. I told her that I believed there were a number of worlds that are equal to the number of people plus one. Everybody has their own world which they constantly try to change. So normally, they are mostly unhappy with their world. Some are a little rigid for the rules of other worlds and call them 'aliens'. Changing your world is difficult, but changing yourselves is way more difficult. Some may claim that change is inevitable and never-ending. I partially agree; however, uncontrolled changes are dangerous. Human reason is -and must be- the only exquisite conduit of the change. Uncontrolled and unreasoned changes lead to 'fanatism'.

Always keep on changing... Never stop. However always keep that process only upon you. Trying to change the other people may disappoint you. "You are a teacher and changing human behavior is your job. How come?" Good question; but the only thing I do is showing the best way to thread for the optimum change in human life. I show my students; they do their bit. I don't change; but they do. If they don't, I fail them. So, my job is not changing, but showing how to change!

A different view on change;
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-231928-some-things-never-change.html

Being a Turkish still questioned?

Lots of people we can see on the streets of Turkey asking 'What exactly is being a Turk(ish)?' Another thing that can easily catch our eyes is that there are some people whose beliefs -and views, if there is any- are so close to the Adolf's. To them, we are the greatest 'race' in the world and others are just not as humans as we are. Interestingly, again according to them, you are their siblings if you claim so. This is an overt racism. On the other hand, you can see many others claiming that they are not Turkish and/or muslim. First of all, being muslim has nothing to do with being Turkish. There are more than a million non-muslim people living in Turkey; and they are as Turkish as, at least, as a muslim one. Secondly, the number of races thriving within the borders of Turkey is around 36 - announced by R.T. Erdoğan, Turkish PM - They, surely, have the right to live their culture. There is no other way. Culture cannot be altered. They can speak their own language as well. However, they are the same as others; no race can be greater than another. They have the equal rights. If a race puts forward other one is different and lower, it is a clear racism. Weirdly enough, when it is racism, taking the equation adversely is also true; that is to say, if you say I am different, or we are lower than the other races -esp. if there is no such thing- then it is racism as well. Then, here comes the question; what is the meaning of being Turkish? Put it simple; if you are an individual living in Turkey with a standard ID Card, you are  Turkish. With that ID Card, you can apply for an public or private sectoral job, you have some rights coming along with Turkish Constitution. Being Turkish does bring some responsibilities as well; i.e. carrying out military service, voting on elections, paying taxes. To sum up, we can say that you carry your Turkish Identity on your ID Card; not somewhere on your body -skull, heart, etc.- An average Atatürk adherent can recite this information without second inhale.
One of the good writers of Zaman Daily, Ethem Mahçupyan, most probably an Armenian-Turkish, puts some opinions about the latest quasi-racism of CHP. As an Atatürk adherent, I don't definitely approve any words parallel with racism; not in Turkey, nor in in the world. However, Mr. Mahçupyan targets at Atatürk and he claims that the current racist utterances stem from even before Atatürk. Partially correct. In the time of First World War, there were some reeds, namely Ümmetçilik(religion-based), Türkçülük (race-based) and Milliyetçilik (nation-based). The last one, let's call it nationalism, took its basis from French Revolution, best Turkish follower of which was Atatürk at that time. Nationalist view can be summarized as I have done in the previous paragraph. The skull researches were not carried out just based on the race studies but some others as well. Moreover, there have been many antropological studies all over the world. It would be better somebody could have been able to give some 'real racist' activities; such as, during the Independence War period, on May 29 1919, Atatürk issued to avoid any violent actions to 'our non-muslim' siblings. The terminology 'non-muslim' was used in the meaning of 'minority' at that period. A very big percentage of Turkish Army in Independence and First World Wars is said to have been from different minorities, majorly Kurds and Armenians. Sırrı Sakık, a BDP member of parlaiment, has told Bosnian Turkish are not the real owners of this country. If anything, all the minorities have equal share on this country; we are brothers, sisters; we love each other very much -at least I do-. That is what makes me Turkish.

For Mahçupyan's Piece:
http://zaman.com/etyen-mahcupyan/merak-etmeyin-chpye-bir-sey-olmaz_2050668.html

For Atatürk's Minority View:
http://atam.gov.tr/nutukta-azinliklar-meselesi-ve-ataturkun-azinliklar-hakkindaki-gorusleri/