Charlie Hebdo victim was 'a friend of Islam, Turkey'

Ertuğrul ÖZKÖK

I know one of the people killed at the Paris office of the Charlie Hebdo magazine very well.

Georges Wolinski…

He was one of the cartoonists I followed when I was studying in Paris in the 1970s.

Maybe you don’t know him, but do you know who he was? 

Let me quote the words he gave in an interview with Turkish public broadcaster TRT in Antalya in 2005: “I voted ‘yes’ in the referendum in France regarding Turkey’s full EU membership.”

He repeated these words when I saw him for the last time at a dinner in the Ambassador Restaurant.

The man who was killed in Paris was a person who spoke in favor of Turkey’s EU membership and drew cartoons to support it.

He was a human who loved Turkey very much. He was never the enemy of any Muslim. On the contrary, he was one of the loudest voices supporting Muslim immigrants in France.

Another victim was Jean Cabut, "Cabu"...

Both were friends of the late Oğuz Aral, a legendary Turkish cartoonist.

Do you know what this massacre means? I can't give an example using the names of living cartoonists, so let me give the names of deceased ones: Imagine Oğuz Aral, Turhan Selçuk and Ali Ulvi being killed at the same place in the same day.

Both Wolinski and Cabu were children of May 1968.

They were leftists and never xenophobic or Islamophobic. Both were champions of immigrants in France. 

And what do I think about them? 

I say with complete sincerity: I now fear voicing my opinion. 

I fear for my country, for good Muslims, for good Christians, and for the world...

This fear is mine, but this shame is not.