Look at Ankara to understand Konya

It is not the first time we have witnessed what we saw during the moment of silence before the football match in Konya, Central Anatolia. I have not seen any proper “moment of silence” held anywhere up until this day. If nothing happens, a few irrationals would disrupt that time of respect. When they start, the others would not stay calm; they in turn would whistle and the moment of silence is completed with swear words from all sides. 

This happens all the time. For this reason, the incident in Konya was actually an ordinary example. 

I had suggested that we should get rid of these moments of silence before football matches because we are not capable of doing it - we do not have such a culture - so at least let us not torture the spirits of the deceased. 

The moments of silence during the Nov. 10 (the anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s death) ceremonies in our childhood were also like this. One person would giggle and this would infect the whole class and the moment would be completed with the nervous looks of the teachers. 

I don’t know how one would explain this. What kind of a social psychological mood causes this? 

The common aspect of all cultures in the world, of all religions, is to respect the dead, but somehow our society does not feel any discomfort in discriminating among its dead. 

It looks as if we have transformed into one of the most damned societies on the earth. We cannot have a common joy; we cannot share pain collectively. The joy of one may be the sorrow of the other. The sorrow of one is a festival for the other. 

We are in an endless disgusting race; it is as if we are contesting our sorrows. Such societies are bound to fall apart in the end and face destruction. To change this, the leaders of society should set examples. But even if they cannot unite despite all this sorrow then could it be possible to consider that those hooligans who filled the stadium in Konya felt this pain inside them and shared? 

Those protesting the moment of silence in Konya were chanting, “Martyrs do not die; the country does not split.” When the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attacks and martyr funerals increase, we hear this slogan in the stadiums. At this stage, I would like to tell those breaking the moment of silence: “Unfortunately the martyrs have died and if the people of this country do not change this mentality, then the separation of the country will also become inevitable.” 

How many ISIL members in Turkey? 

Of course, as in any county, in Turkey there are fanatics who consider extremists as “normal.” But I don’t think they are large in numbers.

However, if the religious extremists in Turkey have the opportunity to do so, how many of them would go and act similarly as al-Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or Boko Haram? 

I guess we can answer this question as “all of them.” 

Yes, they are not too many in numbers but they can wrap bombs around themselves and explode them in crowds to go to the heaven promised for them; they can also be engaged in other crazy acts. 

For this reason, in such a country, the eyes and ears of security forces should be focused on the places these kinds of fanatics gather and organize so that they are able to prevent incidents such as the ones in Ankara, Suruç and Diyarbakır.

However, this has not been done; we know this very well. The danger is ongoing. 

We somehow do not hear of those who provide “religious education” to naïve young people, guiding them into such extremes, being followed and interrogated, never ever.