‘Narin Incident’ / 2

After the murder of 8-year-old Narin Güran in the village of Tavşantepe in Diyarbakır province, we were confronted with a horror that almost overshadowed the cruel murder of a little girl. In many respects.

The first is that we have seen -once again, in fact- how easy, how comfortable, how cold-bloodedly, how commonplace it can be in these lands to end the existence of a young child in the world, for whatever reason. Of course, we easily saw the ease in this case. How easily killable others, children, especially other people's children, especially girls, are in the eyes of some! The cultural codes that make women ‘disposable’ for most men -and which are persistently nurtured and reproduced- can also make little girls who have not yet become fully “useful” -and babies, too, according to the new scandalous news that has just emerged- “disposable” in the eyes of men. In our case, as far as we have been able to learn so far, this is not the case, but rather like the little child being treated like a rock in an awkward situation. They kicked her away. To the side of the stream.

Secondly, the fact that the detachment of social culture from morality, the fact that it has fallen so far away from it, has become a widespread and profound “personality trait” in our country. A family and village life that normalizes the murder -perhaps the process leading up to it as well- and naturalizes the cover-up of the murder. Is Tavşantepe the only place where such a disgrace can happen? Is the part of the Güran family involved in the murder and its cover-up, the only family that can dive into this horrible complicity without blinking an eye, without a shuddering conscience? What kind of a human condition does it indicate when a child is killed for any “urgent” reason, for the quick solution of any problem that arises, and this is considered natural, inevitable, etc., and everyone adjusts their behavior and, of course, their beliefs, their existence, their attitude accordingly? Isn't it clear that we can never speak of an isolated incident here? Moreover, we are not talking about a current, transitory environment, created by a sudden convergence of certain circumstances at a certain time. Is there anyone who can tackle such an epidemic without fear or complexes?

Thirdly, even in our attitudes towards the murder of a child, we must point out how we have been poisoned by terrible selfishnesses and self-centerednesses that override the horror that the murder of a child should be expected to create, and this leads to all sorts of calculations. Concerns of self-interest, hysteria for self-validation can push back the feeling of pure horror that should be pervasive because of the murder of a child. Let me only say a few words here about this topic, which is a subject of an article -in fact, an encyclopedic study. “These are not the affairs of our culture,” says someone who is inevitably associated with (Hezbollahists) who have killed people with cleavers and built torture chambers in houses, about child murder and the family's collective concealment of it. Accordingly, Europe, America, Israeli culture, etc. would approve of such things! Members of a sinless culture who think they can get away with lying their way out of every terrible situation! They are the tricksters who can find excuses for all the horrible crimes committed by someone they consider one of their own, excuses that do not exclude the possibility of heaven! This way, they do not sin at all, they can do whatever they want to whomever they want. An Akit mindset. On the other side, the “bright face” of Turkey, which is in the mood for vindication on the grounds that the perpetrators of the murderous deeds are people who can be described as “religious reactionaries.” And the heroes of this murderous game are Kurds! All sorts of nationalist, racist, fascist, supremacist assholes would enjoy the situation- if there were no child corpses. However, these Kurds are not “those Kurds.” Since before the AKP, they have sided with the state against separatist terrorists. So we shouldn't write them off. But...? Or have they not done so? Because they are very religious...? Imagine, they are both religious and Kurdish, but that doesn't help anyone! The bad thing is the complexity of social life.

Fourthly, once again, we see how protecting and serving citizens is not a priority among the founding purposes and functions of the organization called the state; in fact, such a responsibility does not exist but the burden is beared when “deemed necessary” in some cases. During the nineteen days of bewilderment and incompetence (when Narin Güran was missing), we do not know which decisions were made or not made, which actions were taken or not taken, and for which motives, concerns and calculations. We certainly do not know on what basis the statement of the gendarmerie commander, who declared that “the circle has narrowed” and “the target is getting closer”, was said, and why it suddenly became invalid, why it is not remembered or reminded now. There is only one circle, and that's the circle of helplessness they've trapped us in. The fact that a body could not be found in a narrow space for nineteen days, the fact that the relevant part of the village community was unanimous and disciplined, that they did not give a word of information, whereas the state's attitude consisted of the ostensible publication ban, which it violated through its own personnel, and that at no stage did any state official take us for human beings and give us a single word of explanation… These are once again “natural ways of life” for the state to tell us that we are not citizens, we are not interested in the issue, we are not a party, etc. I will mention this again below.

Fifth, the current bar for journalism has been lowered to the lowest level imaginable without abandoning the last concerns about the profession. Let us thank and set aside the few devoted colleagues who, despite countless difficulties, try to learn something and forward it to us. I am not talking about the shameless telling of lies, the concealment of the truth, the attempts at manipulation either. The “Narin Incident” hit everyone so unexpectedly that even the government propaganda apparatus did not have much time and opportunity to lie and distort. But we must admit that the sensationalism, exaggeration and “attraction” tricks on TV channels and online publications are shameful. The part of the media that we relatively trust is also in a bad situation in this respect. Programs that steal hours of our time and turn into TV shows in order to convey information that can fit in three sentences in the air of making great discoveries and discovering connections that no one thought of, political speeches in the package of interpreting “technical details”, cheesy displays of intellect and ingenuity whenever the opportunity arises… The scenes that turn the reporters running around on the field and struggling to get the news into extras in the “live connection” game, the flash trick of the shows… In this process, in which reporters are put in a difficult situation by repeating the same words over and over again due to the lack of proper information and the inability to add new ones to the available information, and in which we are completely subjected to the mental capacity of the commentator because it is considered obligatory to say something very important, anyone who has the opportunity to present their own predictions -even if they are logically impossible or based on already falsified information- as a “definite possibility”... Judging by the way the videos are presented on the Youtube channels of newspapers and TV channels, in the days we have been rushing from “blood-curdling detail” to “shocking detail”, the murder has been solved 45 times so far, the murderer has been exposed, the case has been solved, etc. 

Sixth, in response to all this, in the face of an insistently reminded broadcasting ban -when there was hardly anyone, pro or con, jurist, lawyer, or even journalist, who did not find the broadcasting ban legitimate in such an incident- the authorities leaked information to the government propaganda apparatus, thus placing at the forefront the effort not to lose the opportunity for manipulation and propaganda in an incident that the whole society watched and participated in with sadness and anxiety. Because here, the necessities of the investigation and the ambition to keep the monopoly on information clearly come into conflict, and the government prefers the latter. What is sad is that a situation has arisen here that creates suspicion on the officials who are trying to solve a murder that has no direct political connection and no political purpose, that is, which cannot be related to the obsession with the survival of the state. Who can be trusted in such a situation? Those who govern us, even on the smallest occasions, make it clear that we can never trust them. This is a real national security issue, nobody realizes it. Especially those whose life is all about national security!

Moreover, there is another point that is never brought up, in terms of understanding the position and attitude of the state. Let me put it this way: If the horror play, in which a murder committed with the cooperation of who knows how many people, obviously with the cooperation of many, many people, was staged in a village where, let's say, three out of four people voted for the DEM Party and not AKP+HÜDA PAR: (a) would we have waited so long for the detentions? (b) would it have taken nineteen days to find the body? (c) wouldn't everything have been revealed by now, including the facts about the suspects? And: (d) wouldn't we have learned about hundreds of “bullets” and who knows what else? In fact, wouldn't Tavşantepe have been declared the center of a new wave of terrorism and the focus of a plan to invade Turkey?

Seventhly, I was going to talk about making it clear to us that some of the deeply disturbing situations that put the entire political establishment, especially those in power, under deep suspicion are not accidental, momentary events, but the structural activity of an always functioning mechanism. Galip Ensarioğlu, an AKP Diyarbakır deputy -and a prominent figure of one of the region's largest and most powerful families- spoke about the Güran family on the occasion of Narin Güran's murder, saying that the family had been his friends for forty years, that he did not want to upset them, that there were things they should not say as politicians, etc. Ensarioğlu's statement clearly implied that “even if we knew they had committed a murder, we might not tell”, which drew a lot of reaction. 

Instead of writing my own views, it would be more accurate to mention the statement signed by the Güran Family, which caught my eye just as I was about to finish and send the column, in order to shed light on the mechanism. It is understood from the statement that the family complains about “attacks on Quran courses and our supreme religion,” points out that “thousands” of members of the Güran family live in “different geographies of our country” and that “the vast majority of them are devoted to their homeland and nation.” They say: “We cannot imagine our family members killing our own daughters, but even if this were the case, we attribute the defamation of an entire family because of one person to some foreign powers and their local extensions.” The statement on behalf of the family added the following “strategic” statement: “The strategic and geographical location of Tavşantepe neighborhood, where some of our family members live, is another factor.” We should think that this sentence is really quite interesting and remarkable. The authors of the statement, while asking “all forces loyal to our state” not to “fall for this trick”, also include the following reproach: “Unfortunately, even some conservative writers accuse the family of being enemies of the homeland without any investigation.” It is clear from this that the family expects to be taken care of regardless of the murder. If I were a prosecutor, I would consider the reliance on the motif of “foreign powers and their extensions” in the statement, which seems to have been made with the concern of not being falsely accused of murder, as a presumption of guilt.

***

Let me end with a wish that I don't think you would expect from your columnist: Despite all these outrages I have listed, there is a potential for a kind of unity, a collective effort in the “Narin Incident” that we have not often seen until now. Without getting into the nitty-gritty, as soon as the subject is touched upon, it becomes clear that the way out of the inhuman situation in which we are being dragged, crammed and suffocated can be comprehended by everyone. Because this is really an area where very few meaningful proposals that start with “no matter who you are...” can find solid ground. This is a problem that cannot be walked on any path other than the path of justice and truth, a problem that no one can reach any kind of salvation in any other way.

Politics can be done by reaching out to these depths, by not being afraid of this breadth. And this can make us leap beyond this life that every day makes us feel more and more undignified, suffocated, hopeless and helpless. Whether and how much we can solve the “Narin Incident” by creating meaningful outcomes that will extend into the future is a much more serious issue for the future of our society than how much land can be carved up from Syria and how much terror can be unleashed on the people of this country and the surrounding area.

Narin couldn't get out of there, how could she? A society that has seen so much cannot consider itself drowned, stuffed in a sack and thrown into a stream. If it does, it identifies itself not with Narin, who perished at the hands of bullies, but with the people who stomped on its dignity by keeping silent.