The year of helplessness

At the end of every year, we take stock of what we have lived through, experienced, and felt over the past twelve months. 2023 was a year we will not easily forget, because it was a year in which we asked ourselves many questions and received no answers.

Early in the year, at a time when we were trying to make our plans, Turkey experienced one of the greatest tragedies that can befall a country. That cold, gloomy February morning changed the fate of many people forever. Thousands of people, unfortunately, lost their lives. The Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquake shook not only our spirits but our entire existence. Stunned by the shock, we were left speechless for a short time. Afterward, we began to ask ourselves the following questions: How did so many innocent people lose their lives under the rubble of new buildings and luxury housing complexes? Why were scientists not listened to in time? Why was the intervention so late? We could multiply such questions.

Anxiety, bewilderment, fear, and anger were emotions that could easily be seen on the face of every citizen. On every street corner, there was talk only of the earthquake tragedy. Suddenly, sales of earthquake kits increased significantly. The whistles recommended by scientists began to be sold by the dozen everywhere, because in the event of an earthquake, a whistle was of vital importance. If you were trapped under the rubble, you could use the whistle to alert rescuers. "You have huge sales of whistles, don't you?" I asked a shopkeeper curiously. "That's how it is. People are buying them by the dozen. But my daughter, we Turks have a poor memory. We forget everything very quickly. We will forget this earthquake too," he replied in a melancholic and sad tone. I looked at him and, sighing deeply with sadness, I said "Goodbye."

However, the mobilization and solidarity shown by the Turkish people after the earthquake became a lesson in humanity for the whole world. The aid from people abroad was also a lesson showing that humanity is not dead. But still, we were overcome by a strong sense of helplessness and guilt! We wanted to help more but couldn't. We wanted to prevent the death toll from rising but failed! We wanted to see justice and fairness but couldn't!

In the past year, we have been experiencing the same feelings for nearly two years since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, a "war of brothers" where two peoples with a shared historical past are killing each other. As human beings, we no longer want to see blood, horror, death, and similar statistics.

As if the war in Ukraine were not enough, the start of the war between Hamas and Israel showed once again how cruel humans can be. While Gaza was initially referred to as an "open-air prison," this piece of land has now turned into a "real human graveyard" within two months. And we humans, in the face of the tragedy experienced by innocent people on one side or the other of the conflict, felt helpless once again.

We are very powerless in the face of dozens of armed conflicts on Earth and natural disasters caused by the recklessness and greed of many people. We are witnessing times when the world's geopolitical fault lines are being repositioned. For this reason, we are forced to see scenes of inexplicable and unimaginable violence on television or the internet. However, these scenes and events make us feel extremely helpless. It is hard to know that injustices exist and that you cannot do anything. It is also hard to see the misfortunes in the world and not be able to stop them. I know that while helplessness makes us HUMAN, it is an emotion for which we can only find the solution in hope.

I wish for the coming year to bring us, above all, Peace and Hope! I do not want any child in this world to suffer, and I do not want children to know what war is, or what misfortunes or natural disasters are. Let us all do our best to leave a more beautiful, better world for our children's future.

I do not want my child, who is still in kindergarten, to come home and ask me, "Mom, what is war?", "Mom, why do soldiers have to die?"

I wish everyone a happy year full of hope!