Is It the Secret of the Town, or the Secret of the Republic?

Based on the 1966 debut novel of the same name by American novelist Robert Crichton, the film was directed by Stanley Kramer, with a screenplay adapted and written by Ben Maddow and William Rose; it starred Anthony Quinn, Anna Magnani, Virna Lisi, Hardy Krüger, and Giancarlo in the lead roles.

The film tells the story, with a humorous touch, of the people of Santa Vittoria, a town in Italy famous for its wine, who hide their 1 million bottles of quality wine from the retreating German soldiers toward the end of World War II.

In other words, it tells a story of resistance.

İmamoğlu has also written a story of resistance; from his own life.

He expressed his gratitude to Atatürk for the opening of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on April 23, 1920, which represents the will of the Turkish nation and declared the sovereignty of the Turkish people.

He put into words his life, which sprouted from the village of Cevizli in Akçaabat—a mountain village where my mother first began her teaching career.

Although I could not flourish as much as İmamoğlu, I too sprouted in those parts.

Even if we could not become Mayors, we became Department Chairs.

That is more than enough for anyone who is a decent human being.

My life, which began on the Sisdağı Plateau at an altitude of 2200 meters, was crowned by becoming a professor at Eskişehir Anadolu University, one of the most prestigious and generous universities in the world.

Now, we are trying to create added value in Istanbul with what we learned in Eskişehir.

May God clear our path and bring us together with good people; just as it has been until now.

During this process, I encountered a very different type of person and topology that I was not at all accustomed to.

People I had never seen before…

Impossible in Trabzon; people I hadn't even seen in America…

In Eskişehir, I also got to know enemies of the Republic who, unlike me—who was born and raised right next to Anıtkabir, not at coordinates 800 kilometers horizontally and 2200 meters vertically from Ankara, and who benefited from all the blessings of the Republic with first-degree opportunities—had been born and raised in such a way.

Although most were not from Eskişehir, they had managed to secure a desk and chair in the institutions of Eskişehir.

They had somehow easily obtained the very precious seat that I had only attained by traveling the world.

In our long sittings with these friends—which were very few—they would constantly talk about the treacheries and weaknesses of the Republic, and they wouldn't even allow us to intervene and say, "It's not that bad."

In any case, after one or two attempts, we were declared heretics and disqualified early from the congregation of these friends.

Then, in a way I could not understand, they jumped on the bandwagon of those from Pennsylvania.

They all cursed the Republic together.

With the support they received from the famous professors of our ancient universities in Istanbul, they even lost their senses.

Saying "Come on, keep going, it's almost over," they attacked the Glorious Republic and its founder, the Great Atatürk, more and more.

There was one point they overlooked:

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Let us say we will come to that subject separately and continue on our route.

These friends would frequently invite people with such views to our university; they would try to open the blind minds of ignorant people like me, but they were not very successful.

Since we were born at a high altitude, our point of comprehension is unfortunately high.

Because our minds were circumcised from birth with the virtues of the Republic, penetration was not easy.

According to them, we are thick-headed, that's all.

And it's not like there isn't some truth to that.

When their efforts led to failure, the insults would reach a peak; they would call us everything from stupid and ignorant to fascist.

Because they knew the recent history of the Republic hour by hour, which I did not know, my processor unfortunately could not process the intense data being transferred.

Its capacity was weak.

It was Celeron-type.

It was constantly giving errors.

My mind could not grasp why someone who risked their life for their country and its people, and who tried to increase the social status of women in particular by making revolutions one after another, would be cursed by female academics in particular.

Was it that they didn't like the abolition of polygamy, or was it receiving a full share of inheritance?

Or was it having the right to vote and be elected?

Anyway, let me not digress and get into the history of the revolution.

These friends insisted on their theses and would not give up; they would invite their more knowledgeable, charismatic, and intellectual older brothers from Ankara.

One day, their older brother Sırrı also came. May God grant him a speedy recovery; he is a very important filmmaker.

He was trying to convince us by attacking the Republic, saying, "What good have we seen from it?"

I could not be convinced.

Having known societies that do not have an Atatürk up close and having witnessed their misery, I could not be convinced at all.

As I said, I'm just thick-headed.

Perhaps it is because I see the history of the Republic as a package rather than hour by hour that I remained ignorant.

In short:

I believe that our older brother Sırrı will also be convinced, as he will be saved from a very serious health problem—which most of us would have already kicked the bucket from—thanks to the Doctors of the Republic.

He, too, will be convinced that he has "seen the good" of the Republic, at least by staying alive; as a story of resistance.