YUSUF KANLI

A letter from a martyr, Major Ali Faik Bey YUSUF KANLI

A letter from a martyr, Major Ali Faik Bey

Turkey lost many of her great sons in wars that brought the end of an empire and helped the creation of a modern Turkish republic. The turning point in the history of that tumultuous period in the history of the nation might be the Gallipoli Campaign. One major figure that the Gallipoli Campaign produced was a young officer called Mustafa Kemal, who in the subsequent years emerged as the commander of the Turkish liberation war and the architect of the modern republic.

April 13 2020
The EU and a virus YUSUF KANLI

The EU and a virus

What we call today the European Union was a visionary and challenging endeavor built on the calamity produced by two world wars. The first and foremost target of this new and unprecedented initiative was to create a common better future by making European nations interdependent and engaging them in some sort of a “one for all, all for one” solidarity. United, they would be strong. United, they would be able to stand against all challenges. Thus, the EU ever since its inception survived all the challenges and emerged each time from existential problems and came out each of them consolidating itself.

April 08 2020
The state and citizens YUSUF KANLI

The state and citizens

There might be various ideas on the issue. State or citizens: Who comes first? Do states exist to serve citizens or do citizens need to serve for the prosperity of their states? This is probably a very difficult philosophy problem beyond my capability to provide an answer. But in this country, the state has always been sacrosanct and the citizens, by and large, consider the state either as a their “father” or something to be scared of.

April 01 2020
This crisis will produce a new world YUSUF KANLI

This crisis will produce a new world

We have the right to be ignorant or refuse to acknowledge the coronavirus threat. We might be even determined not to accept that ourselves are vulnerable to this threat. Very much like those guys in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, we may ignore all isolation calls and continue playing rummikub, or the Turkish version “okey,” on minibuses. Or, as we have seen examples of it, we may hide somehow and escape from the police, gendarme or the municipal guards and continue moving around. But, no one is immune to death.

March 30 2020
An existential challenge YUSUF KANLI

An existential challenge

These days most of us are “willingly” confined to our homes. The first few days of self-isolation might not be difficult at all. But after a while it becomes very difficult to accept that “cut off” psychology.

March 25 2020
Dark comedy… YUSUF KANLI

Dark comedy…

Is there any meaning in luxury holiday advertisements popping up while surfing on the internet? Watching Turkish Cypriot channels, thanks to IPTV, it appeared as if someone has decided to stage a black comedy. Advertorials are broadcast regarding convenient as well as luxurious holiday opportunities in North Cyprus, full of casino advertisements. Some go to the extent of buying the flight ticket, transferring and hosting customers to the hotel of the casino, all free of charge. One advertisement was stressing that customers of a certain casino will also have private, fast and preferential treatment on their arrival and departure from the island. While ordinary passengers will line up in front of passport police or the customs control, the special customers of the casino would not need to bother with such formalities.

March 18 2020
A sad letter from Italy YUSUF KANLI

A sad letter from Italy

Association of European Journalists (EJ) chairman Paolo Magagnotti is someone who devoted his entire life to the cause of the European Union, European identity, norms, values and the consolidation of European institutions — most of the time at the expense of national identities or norms.

March 16 2020
Constant dialogue needed YUSUF KANLI

Constant dialogue needed

Countries with imperial backgrounds might sometimes have difficulty in avoiding public demands for grandeur actions, projects and policy decisions that might be even difficult to reconcile with reason and commonsense. Sovereignty, national pride, independence, nation-state and such norms are rather important for such countries and nations. Brexit, for example, might not be understood well by most nations, but for the Turks why sovereignty was so important for the British people is very much understood.

March 11 2020
Digging a well to be filled YUSUF KANLI

Digging a well to be filled

A friend sent a message about an issue that happened back in the closing days of the previous century. “Do you remember how excited we were in successfully completing that important thing hours before the start of the new millennium?” he asked. Indeed, 20 years and many months have elapsed since that day and unfortunately the very important development that my friend believed was worth remembering now has long become past for me. Still, with the note sent by my friend, I remembered those days when I was guiding my colleagues as the managing editor of the Daily News every day, telling them to dig a well of news and filling it back to dig a new one the next day…

March 09 2020