“OK,” I say to the children, “We are all overwhelmed in these corona days. Let’s decorate the house, the new year is coming. Down with the corona and with 2020. Let’s enter 2021 with hope. Come on, let’s make popcorn.” While I make the popcorn, I think of my dear friend Osman Kavala, who remains in […]
On June 9, a regional court in Turkey’s southeastern Gaziantep province ruled on the case of Pakize Hazar, who had been killed when an armoured vehicle ran her over on June 14, 2017. The court unanimously decided that the prison sentence given to the driver be converted into a juridical fine of 18,200 TL ($ […]
A couple of days ago, I and 804 other citizens of Turkey signed a statement, where we reiterated our desire to live a life of justice, peace with dignity and peace of mind on this land, with our livelihood and health under assurance. As signatories from academia, law and medicine, we tried to put into words […]
My hometown Sur is becoming quieter by the day. Those who leave are either moving away to make a living elsewhere or flee from the authorities; those who remain retreat inside their homes and try to power through this dark period in the district’s history. It is now cold in every way possible. I walk through Sur and […]
My grandmother Ayşe lived a long life. Sometimes she used to talk about the past, she used to tell about the soldiers coming to their village and when the soldiers had come, how they fled to the mountains. As some soldiers were spending the whole winter in their villages, she told us how they were […]
The date is October 29, in the Duranlar (Awyan) village in the southeast’s Yüksekova, Hakkari. It’s around six in the afternoon. Şerali Dereli leaves his house to tend to his horses like he does every day. His health has not been good, so he barely goes outside for anything else. The mare and its young […]