Lugubrious celebration

Turkey marking National Sovereignty and Children’s Day yesterday. As for the Children’s Day, there was no problem. Even the neo-sultan of the grotesque palace temporarily gave his specious seat to a small girl, allowed another girl playing a violin to entertain him with songs in his, his mother’s and the Çanakkale martyrs’ honor. As for the “sovereignty” aspect of the day, however, it was not seen around anywhere … It vanished into thin air!

There has been confusion for some time. The neo-sultan started reading a poem on the screen, evaded all the restrictions, fooled everyone and engaged in the propaganda of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The three-minute advertorial was not considered an advert by the Radio and Television High Board either. Thus for the past few days, with the inclusion of the three-minute “free” advertorial of the neo-sultan, advertisements on screens were expanded to 15 minutes. The almighty, most benevolent, absolute ruler wished it so, so why not?

The questions posed to the kids that temporarily took over the top posts of the state were asked typically awful questions distributed in advance by officious protocol executives. Apart from bootlicking content, some questions were indeed rather interesting. What would a small girl understand under what psychological condition someone would want a grotesque palace to be built for himself? Could it be reasonable to expect from a small girl to explain the Kurdish opening that the nation has still not received an explanation as to what it is, where it will lead and to what degree “national sovereignty” will be compromised? Nonsense, of course.

Indeed, whose invention was this rambling tradition of handing over the top seats of the state to toddlers every April 23? Well, if we were to celebrate the day on April 1 Fool’s Day, it would perhaps make sense, as kids perhaps are far more intelligent than many grownups nesting on those specious chairs are.

The absolute sultan is of course ordained with all information available and is the “Mr. Know All.” Anyone doubt in that? If anyone dares to have doubts, there are officious rooms for rent in spacious Turkish prisons. He is of course able enough to talk about everything, including moving from 3G to 5G telecommunications technology, skipping 4G. Was he required to know that in a few weeks’ time there will be a tender for 4G, for which billions of liras were spent over the past two years to complete? Was he required to know 5G was still at the research stage and would take at least 10-15 years to be “stabilized” and for an industry “routine” to be established?

The toddler sitting temporarily on the same specious chair would avoid such a comment as she did regarding issues irrelevant to the Children’s Day aspect of the April 23 “National Sovereignty and Children’s Day.”

The founding fathers of the republic, however, considered the opening of national parliament in Ankara to lead the Turkish War of Liberation as such an important day that it first declared it as the “National Sovereignty Day.” Years later, in 1929, in awareness that unless the country developed new, healthy and well-educated new generations, the republic would not be able to endure, the most important day of the Turkish nation’s fascinating struggle for independence and statehood – which indeed ought to be the National Day of the country – was declared as the world’s first Children’s Day.

Of course declaring a day does not mean mission accomplished as in the Turkish example it was seen that determined neglect, ignorance and lousy administrations successfully produced regression that carried Turkey gradually from the modernity of secular republican spirit to the world of almighty sultan. 

Even if a young Cihan News Agency reporter might burst into tears when an officious communications agency refused to allow him into a ceremony that was graced by the spouse of the neo-sultan because he was working with a company hated by the almighty absolute ruler, together with all other oddities, hopes should not be lost. Losing hope means accepting defeat. Had the forefathers of this nation lost hope, would they have been able to build a republic on the ashes of a collapsed empire?

Hope is the mother of success – one must not give it up.