Narin's murder and the truths that have come to light

The monstrous murder of 8-year-old Narin has brought to light many truths that had been swept under the rug in Turkey.

You may recall that in the 90s, one day a Mercedes crashed into a truck, and suddenly we learned that a fugitive who had been sought for years was traveling in the same vehicle as a police chief and a member of parliament. 

It turned out that the fugitive Abdullah Çatlı, who had been sought for years, was living among us like a king under a different identity, attending weddings, and running a secret organization; on that day, he was traveling with the woman said to be his lover and others to purchase a casino.

And more interestingly, Colonel Arif Doğan, who claimed to have founded JİTEM, recounted everything in an interview that appeared in books: "I was the regimental commander in Yalova at the time. Before the accident, they came to me in Yalova, stayed in Termal, and I hosted them. They mentioned their intention to establish a casino in İzmir and offered me a partnership. I said, 'Mehmet Ağar is involved in this, I won't get involved with Mehmet Ağar.' They were going to take me with them, but I refused."

Note that this is a colonel speaking, and one of the people he says he hosted was a fugitive.

As is well known, Mehmet Ağar had also said after the accident, "They were taking Çatlı to surrender."

All these truths emerged with that accident on that day.

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And so, Narin, who was brutally murdered in Diyarbakır, has also revealed some other secrets of the country, and will continue to do so:

• Even in 2024, there is a feudal structure in Turkey that has the power to kill children and cover it up by saying, "dirty laundry should be washed at home."

• A man who is a village headman (muhtar) and receives a salary from the state is cold-blooded enough to walk around with the corpse of his own little niece with a broken leg.

• People with the character to take a sack containing a child's corpse and go bury it when they see 200 thousand liras are walking among us.

• While an 8-year-old girl has been murdered, there are ruling party MPs who are so oblivious that they say, "There are things we need to know and not tell because they are family friends."

• There are men who find the strength to punch a woman in the back of the head while she is crying in mourning for a little child, telling her, "Stop lying."

• There are those who openly threaten journalists like Ferit Demir, who went to the village to investigate an 8-year-old's murder, saying, "We need to kill you."

• In the village where the murder was committed, there are villagers who found the power to threaten the state five or six years ago, saying, "Pull these police out of here."

• While the corpse of an 8-year-old child with a broken leg who was brutally murdered lies there, there are political party representatives who come out and give political speeches, blaming the West, America, and Europe, and praising the Taliban.

• There are opportunists who remained silent while journalists wrote hundreds of 'Narin' news stories for days, only to try to claim ownership of the event once protests started everywhere and the public became outraged.

• There are those who remain silent when a religious leader takes up a sword—assuming silence implies consent—but then write that young people aged 18-20 are "going to stage a coup" and cause an uproar when they do the same thing.

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The Narin case will bring more truths to light. 

It is unknown how true the claim is, but there are also those who say that a large number of weapons are buried in the village where the incident took place, which is why there is so much noise.

What is certain is that in a modern and contemporary country, if an 8-year-old child falls victim to a brutal murder, such things do not happen. 

Everyone just mourns and sheds tears.

Fortunately, Mahfi Eğilmez reminded us of the words of the master Yaşar Kemal:

"There are four things you should not be in this country: a woman, a child, a tree, and a stray animal."

On average, one woman continues to fall victim to murder every day, the grave of poor child Narin is still fresh, the "gang of five" are cutting down trees everywhere, and a law that will wipe out stray animals is ready.

How right Yaşar Kemal was.