"Death Exists Too!"

Recall the words of the grand master Neşet Ertaş: "Someone who feels no shame before themselves will feel no shame before anyone on this earth..." Today, we see that whoever is shameless roams the streets with complete impunity, governing the country; while fire falls upon a different home every single day, not a single official resigns out of shame. While the fire burns where it falls, the spectators simply watch... and those who actually take action end up either in prison or in the grave!..

The human archetypes that this broken system wishes to manufacture—and largely succeeds in doing so—are comprised of entirely shameless, unblushing individuals. You don't see these types strictly on television screens; they are all around us, everywhere, to the extent that they can even enter our homes. Let us move past this matter...

In recent years, the chaos endured by the peoples of the world hits the headlines every day with a fresh tremor. Bombs detonate and dozens of people perish in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, France, the USA, and many other countries; recently, a similar tragedy unfolded on New Year's Day at Reina, one of Istanbul's most exclusive venues. While those responsible for the ignominy enveloping the country sit on their thrones in their palaces, nestled in warm armchairs, ordinary people have grown terrified of simply living or carrying out their daily routines. Of course, we know there is a design behind this. They wished to engineer a republic of fear, and they succeeded. Whenever we attempted to build tomorrow through systems where all individuals could live in equality and justice, they struck down. I have often grown exhausted merely comforting myself, repeating, "as long as hope does not darken". For the more we organised, took to the streets, and moved, the more they blocked our path; they assaulted, they broke, they destroyed!

We are not helpless; by joining hands, we can show how powerful we are. Overthrowing this republic of fear and standing tall before it stands at the very top of our duties. Just as I was about to type that we never know where the next bomb will explode, news arrived of a detonation at the courthouse in İzmir. Once again, innocent people died—working-class people striving merely to put bread on their tables. Fear is no remedy! No matter where you are in the world, this death-venerating, brainwashed mob can seize any of us anywhere. Flight is no escape.

Throughout history, humanity has been divided by cultures and religions, carrying their beliefs for centuries within geographic borders through parental transmission and feudal relations. The peoples and living creatures of the earth have witnessed no reality other than the strong crushing the weak. While civilisations were shaped across continents, the vast majority remained in a constant state of conflict; killing and obliterating what they did not love or what was foreign to them to "win" has been the most potent act humans have resorted to since time immemorial. At this juncture, we cannot ignore that collective identities possess no innocent side; whoever holds power attempts to eradicate the other. Today it is me, tomorrow it is you! Whoever happens to hold the reins of power! The earth is an ocean of cultures, and being able to coexist is a beautiful reality worth witnessing, far beyond a mere dream. Yet, as the world expands and progresses rapidly, certain beliefs and cultures have been entirely wiped out by massacres, surviving today strictly within textbooks, while other cultures fight a battle just to survive as minorities, continuing to be slaughtered.

How did we arrive at this point? What kind of creature is a human being?.. A human is a living organism, and the defining trait that separates them from other animals is the capacity to learn. However, as we learned and as the world advanced, where we landed is plain to see. From the moment of birth, being shaped by family and environment, and subsequently by social and cultural legacy, stands as the primary reason a person departs from their true nature and assumes other forms. Besieged from every angle, this creature is too shallow in thought to distinguish between doctrine and absolute truth. What they are taught is deemed 'correct,' while defending the right to life for all living beings is treated as wrong. Regrettably, this creature capable of learning will not even care about what it has learned, carrying on with the eradication of whoever it perceives as the outsider. This is how humanity reached the present day.

Let us look at humanity, those who govern it, and this system... Every era has had its leaders. Leadership is divided into categories. Max Weber defines the types of leadership through three forms of legitimacy: traditional, charismatic, and legal-rational. He also divides these leadership styles into three categories based on authority: autocratic, charismatic, and democratic. Autocratic leadership is generally observed in traditional societies. Charismatic leadership is driven by individuals possessing that personal trait, a raw attribute. In democratic leadership, this responsibility is shared by every member. Turkey, too, is headed by leaders who never drop the word democracy from their tongues! Indeed, we even witnessed those so-called democracy rallies! Although these governments appear to grant the right to vote to the public, because the ultimate power rests in their hands, they can pull votes to their side through various deceptions. After all, did citizens not have to stand guard at ballot boxes during elections over the past ten years just to protect their fundamental rights?!

Whatever anyone chooses to champion, one must realise that in a country where people are dying, in a system where a fresh tragedy is carved into every single day, the day will come when those very weapons turn upon you too, taking the lives and the blood of those you hold dear...

Finally, years ago, I was standing on a high balcony, watching the street below. My ear caught a voice rising from time to time; a man who spoke of nothing else but shouted to the passers-by, "Death exists too!" delivering a concise and direct message to the street. Death exists. It exists for us all. Earthly possessions belong to the earth, and your soul belongs either to the soil or wherever you wish it to rest. Though we may doubt the humanity of those who cheer at deaths, there is nothing that love and beauty cannot ultimately rescue. They manufactured their resentful and devout generations, organising from the grassroots to envelop every space. We must unite our forces on the side of love, honest labour, and justice; we must overthrow this republic of fear and carry on our path with absolute faith that bright, sunny days will surely come.