The Dawn Chorus

Surely everyone has, at least once in their life, woken up and been outside during the first minutes of sunrise. We have all heard how birds chirp during those unique moments of birth that we call dawn. This song, which birds sing in unison every morning without fail—not so much to greet the day with joy, but to say to one another, 'I am here too'—is called the “DAWN CHORUS”.

As children of our weary country, which is going through difficult times, we may feel worn out and despondent. Do not be afraid; this is perfectly normal. It is normal to look with bewilderment at everything changing rapidly around us and to feel that we cannot keep up with the pace of anything. 

It is also very normal for us to feel dizzy as the human profile, social life, conditions, rules, prices, and supply-demand dynamics change so rapidly.

Is it easy to see how quickly our culture is changing, and to watch the truths we have learned and embraced until this age being crushed and destroyed like sandcastles by reckless feet? Is it normal not to have indigestion after seeing those who disregard these virtues? We must protect ourselves, and especially our children, from these innovations that break the spirits of people who have lived their whole lives with honor, struggled to earn honest money, and lived modestly. 

It is not what we accept, but what we do not accept that defines our boundaries. 

Our dawn chorus is the chorus of those whose rejections outnumber their acceptances; for this reason, our voice may sound rebellious at times. 

Know that you are not alone. 

Lately, we seem quite withdrawn, as if we have retreated into seclusion. How difficult it is to breathe in an environment with people who have seized every corner with money of unknown origin and fortunes they thought would never end, people who cannot even understand how they arrived where they are and have not been able to digest it, isn't it? 

I hear you saying it is very difficult… 

Grace, refinement, etiquette, culture, and education have probably never been as worthless as they are in this era.

If we go back a few years from today, isn't the ambition of certain people who were nowhere to be seen back then to exist today, and what they do for this cause, nauseating?

Even though we retreat into our shells to stay away from these hollow, foul-mouthed people who can only own something by paying for it and think they are rich because they possess it, unfortunately, it is not really possible to escape.

There is much to discuss and talk about on this subject; we will talk when the time comes. 

The Turkish people seem trapped in a computer game where their identity, along with their nobility, etiquette, and traditions, is being made to be forgotten; don't you think so too? 

Last week, social media was shaken by the scandalous life of such a family. The source of income of a social media phenomenon with seven million—the figure is 7,000,000—followers was questioned, and all hell broke loose. Since there are experts much more knowledgeable than us to investigate and follow this issue, let us leave it to the experts. 

What I am really curious about is the social degeneration dimension of this business. Who are these 7,000,000 followers? There is a phenomenon called normalization. No matter how absurd and unacceptable something is, the more often we see it, the faster the eye gets used to it, and the mind begins to normalize it.

Who are these 7,000,000 people flying to this account like night moths drawn to the light? 

Who are these 7,000,000 people who can tolerate hearing illogical sentences formed with meaningless words, who are curious to watch magnificent villas furnished with gilded armchairs, who are not surprised by roses dumped at the door by the truckload and pools filled with those flowers, who find drinking coffee with gold plates and traveling by helicopter normal, and who do not pity the money scattered into the air? 

These infatuated ones are not strangers; they are us, our youth, and our children. Those who admire this simulation, which can be lived at the extreme point in another corner, while they themselves are deprived of a modest life, are unfortunately our own people; it is all of us.

I want to shout out the following; 

WHAT YOU ARE SEEING IS NOT NORMAL!

LIFE IS NOT LIKE THIS.

WEALTH IS NOT LIKE THIS, DO NOT NORMALIZE IT!

Possessing money and being wealthy are not the same thing. Such lack of culture, lack of etiquette, showmanship, rudeness, foul language, and ignorance of manners is merely having money that has not been digested, but it does not mean being wealthy. These attitudes, conversations, extravagance, and wasteful, unconscious lives are not normal. 

I am addressing the youth in particular; stay away from hollow things. Everything you think you have earned without shedding your sweat is a loss. 

Those gold watches worn on wrists will never show you the truth if they were put on without effort. The rest is just a story!

Positions reached through easy paths are far from earning you respect; over time, they will flash like neon nightclub signs on your foreheads and turn into shame.

Young people, strive to be individuals composed of right, law, justice, etiquette, culture, patience, perseverance, digestion, and accumulation. We must not fall into pessimism and leave everything to chance; we must embrace the duties assigned to us, as advised by the Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in his Address to the Youth. 

There is a generation coming with a roar, which I believe is superior to us older generations in terms of intelligence and development; I see them, I hear them, and I believe in them. Change will start with those young people. 

Our youth will be the most beautiful voice of the dawn chorus. 

In these days when we are preparing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of our Republic, our voice will sound more beautiful together. 

“Fear not! The crimson banner that ripples in this dawn shall never fade”