Shame

I have lived in the Netherlands for more than thirty years but never lost my interest in the political issues in Turkey. Especially lately I try to follow the developments regarding women’s issues, emancipation but also radicalization.

And what I hear and read lately doesn’t comfort me at all.

It started with the news about the two youngsters being hit by a IETT busdriver while they were heading home from school. Let me get clear that IETT is the public transportation company of Istanbul. The two young people, a 17 year old boy and his girlfriend were sitting next to each other in the bus and the guy had put his head on the girl’s chest. Obviously they were in love and expressed this. What is more beautiful than to see two young people in love? Can you see any harmness in this? I can’t.
But these youngsters were being observed by the busdriver, who probably didn’t like what he saw in his mirror. Instead of trying to drive safe and clear, he decided that he couldn’t allow the behaviour of these youngsters in the bus. So he stopped the bus (which was full at that time) and walked towards the young boy and girl. He smashed with naked hand the boy and shouted at him:’This is not the place to make love, you understand me?’.

If I would be sitting in that bus, I would be FURIOUS! FURIOUS! FURIOUS!
Which right does this stranger think he has to hit a boy who was just being in love? He wasn’t doing anything wrong, he was respectful, he didn’t damage anybody or anything, didn’t he? And he is old enough to be in love and decide what to do with his girlfriend.

Lucky for me (and those who share my opinion), there was a very brave advocate sitting in the bus. She stood up and said to the busdriver that he didn’t have any right to hit the young man. Nor did he have the right to tell them what was decent about their behaviour. The driver said that he didn’t allow this kind of behaviour in HIS bus (again: it’s not his bus, it’s the public’s) and that they can complaint at the terminal. The advocate immediately directed to the young couple that she would help them, for free, but she could only do that if they would lodge a complaint against him for molestation.

I know she has the best intentions, but she could have known that they would never do that. These young people probably considered the bus the only safe place where they could probably be together without being seen by their parents or their family. If they would charge the busdriver, everybody in Turkey would know about their relationship. So, the chances that they would lodge a complaint against the busdriver was practically ZERO.

The advocate sent a letter to the City Council of Istanbul to explain the situation. And that she would never accept the fact that there will be some ‘moral police’ in the public transports of Istanbul. She also sent this letter to a well-known columnist, Ece Temelkuran. Temelkuran, which I consider as one of Turkey’s best journalists, published the letter in her daily column in Milliyet. In the column she and the advocate called for the young people to get in touch with them, so they could fight for justice.

As I said earlier, the boy or the girl never responded (Zero remains Zero), because they were afraid. So now they were not only afraid for their parents, but they were also being terrorised by some strange people who had nothing to do with them.

I always said to myself, that I would NEVER EVER allow other people than my own parents to tell me what to do and how to behave. Let alone, a busdriver of the IETT.
It’s a big shame that this is happening in Turkey. And I am afraid this will not be the last time. But it also gives me hope when I hear that there are people like the advocate and the journalist who will always protect our secular system.

I pray to God that Turkey will not become a foreign territory for me.