Attempts are being made to turn martyrs into political capital

It was the summer of 1908.

Mustafa Kemal was a very young staff officer. There was a conference in the hall of the 3rd Army Military Club in Thessaloniki.

He went.

The hall was very crowded. In those days, a Greek columnist had insulted and disparaged the Ottoman Army. Consequently, the officers were in an uproar.

Unionist journalist Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın had also responded to the Greek Army with an enthusiastic article. This response had greatly pleased the Ottoman officers, and Hasan Tahsin, owner of the Silah newspaper in Thessaloniki, had wanted to collect money among the 3rd Army officers to gift a gold-plated pen to Hüseyin Cahit.

This was the reason for the conference.

Silahçı Tahsin began to read Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın's article in the hall with exaggerated language.

The officers present in the conference hall began to applaud enthusiastically.

Mustafa Kemal was watching the speech. He was silent. As he read Hüseyin Cahit's article, Silahçı Tahsin was whipping the hall into a frenzy;

-"The Army, this entire great heroic Ottoman Army, these worthy descendants of our heroic ancestors who planted red banners on the walls of Vienna, had been insulted in the face of the mocking laughter of Greek palikars. A rag from Athens, with its columns yesterday, insulted and disparaged us, the Ottoman officers," he spoke loudly, and the officers applauded frequently.

The speech continued, "And so, Hüseyin Cahit Bey, our esteemed writer, our extraordinary, our great patriotic writer, saw this immediately..."

The 3rd Army Commander and the Army Chief of Staff were also in the hall.

Silahçı Tahsin continued to read the article with enthusiasm. Everyone was quite pleased with this speech. But Mustafa Kemal was not pleased at all. He was also angry that the Army Commander had allocated this hall for such a conference.

He could not take it anymore and stood up.

-"Tahsin Efendi," he shouted, interrupting Silahçı Tahsin. And he continued;

-"I must confess that I do not yet know what the insult directed at our Army in the Greek newspaper is. I request that you inform us so that those among the participants who, like me, have not yet learned about this matter may also know," he said.

The voices in the hall fell silent.

All eyes were on Mustafa Kemal. After briefly learning about the subject, Mustafa Kemal said the following in the hall, where all the officers and even the Army Commander were present;

-"If a Greek newspaper has insulted and disparaged the Ottoman Army, this incident does not end with Hüseyin Cahit Bey responding with an article. The matter needs to be handled more seriously. The government should respond to this issue in the appropriate manner and do what is necessary. Other than showing the Army's sorrow and excitement, Hüseyin Cahit's article has no validity.

But if something much more effective needs to be done, it could also be done this way; for example, a member of a heroic army like yours does not accept this insult. As an officer of the Ottoman Army, he gets up, goes to Athens, finds the writer who wrote that harsh article or the newspaper editor who published it, and challenges them to a duel, or if he realizes he cannot force a duel, he kills them there, then surrenders honorably and accepts any punishment on behalf of the honor and dignity of the Ottoman Army," he said.

The hall had turned ice cold.

The Army Commander and the Chief of Staff could not say anything. Because Mustafa Kemal was right. We should not be giving speeches among ourselves against insults coming from the outside. The government and the state should do what is necessary. If necessary, the cause and source of that danger should be found and completely destroyed.

Now, coffins of martyrs are arriving from outside. It is a pity and a sin. Those martyrs are our martyrs. Our blood, our life. What is necessary must be done for this. Whatever is necessary must be done.

But now, rather than doing what is necessary, politicians are trying to gain political capital for themselves by giving speeches at the side of coffins. Some are even trying to turn this into votes in the elections by blaming the opposition.

They are trying to make it look like the opposition is the cause.

Oriental cunning, fox-like shrewdness.

What days we have been left to, my friend.

We have even started to miss Silahçı Tahsin. He only wanted to turn the money he collected in the hall into a pen by giving speeches. But those of today, unfortunately, want to turn it into political capital.

It is a pity, a great pity...