The Republic, the youth, the children…

I would like to take this opportunity to once again celebrate our October 29 Republic Day, which we marked with a mix of sorrow due to the pain of our martyrs and social, political, and economic challenges, yet also with great pride in defiance of terrorism and its supporters.

The Republic is such a beautiful and noble value that we are very fortunate to possess it. We are fortunate because we are the children of a great nation that has overcome many hardships throughout history, yet has never given up on its freedom and the idea of an independent state, no matter what it has endured. We are fortunate because, in the moments when our nation was in its greatest distress, we managed to unite with the spirit of the Kuvâ-yı Milliye (National Forces) around a leader like Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades-in-arms, and succeeded in liberating our country from occupation. In the 101st year of our Republic, our goal should be to appreciate this fortune; to strive to build a better future by elevating our beautiful homeland, our state, our republic, and our nation.

Unfortunately, we are in an unfortunate geography, and the wars right next to us continue with all their darkness today, just as they did in the past. Perhaps the best thing we can do in these troubled days is to work for our republic and produce for our country. We must continue to produce for our country by taking our founding values as a guide; we must be able to live together happily and respectfully, regardless of differences in language, religion, or belief.

We must explain to our children and youth how important it is to be able to determine our administrators through our own will and choices, thanks to the opportunities the Republic offers us, and how valuable the equality of opportunity in education, law, health, and governance is. Of course, while doing this, we must be able to speak the language of the youth and children!

As a linguist, "language" is a very sensitive subject for me. Of course, I am not addressing the issue of language academically here when I say "speaking the language of the youth and children." The point I want to draw attention to here is "being able to establish correct communication by speaking the same language as the youth and children." As far as I can see, we always use a didactic tone when trying to explain some of our values to children or young people. A didactic and condescending language, long sentences full of preachy rhetoric or abstract concepts, mean nothing to our youth and children. Yes, they really mean nothing! Let us first accept this! We cannot explain the republic, our country, our state, our nation, or any of our values to our children and youth with such sentences!

Because they live in an era very different from the one we and the generation before us lived in. We are not children of the same world or the same time as them; they are the children of the age of speed and technology! If we can explain the importance of the republic to our children and youth using technological means, and if we can personally show them the situations of countries that cannot govern themselves and have lost their independence, only then can they grasp what the republic is and only then can they understand the value of the republic.

Instead of celebrating every Republic Day by giving similar speeches, reading the same poems, and singing the same songs; isn't it the most realistic and correct way to explain the "Republic" by making a child feel that they have the opportunity to receive the education they want with the possibilities offered by the Republic, by showing a young person that they have an equal right to a say in governance with the possibilities offered by the Republic, and by ensuring that children and young people look to the future with hope and confidence by actually doing these things properly?