Hope...

The purpose of today's article is not the lyrics from Orhan Çakır's song "Hope is the poor man's bread."

A "National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission" has been established in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. It created a hope for the future, for a Turkey without terrorism and a democratic Turkey. Meetings are held once or twice a week. It aims to achieve national solidarity, peace, brotherhood, and contemporary democracy in our country. In my opinion, it is a very valuable initiative and commission. Is the direction heading that way? Well, does it provide such an image? Or is such an effort felt? I am skeptical. I am worried about the future.

Various negative developments and dissenting voices, both inside and outside the commission, have already begun to emerge. My hope for the future (even though I want it very much) is not without being shaken. Why? The Saturday Mothers and the Diyarbakır Mothers were not allowed to speak Kurdish in the Commission. The words of those who expressed their concerns in Kurdish were recorded as "unknown language." This is a complete lie. I swear by everything I hold dear, it is a lie. At the very least, they should write the truth by saying "a language forbidden to be spoken in Parliament." How can 51 distinguished Members of Parliament call Kurdish, which they know or understand—or even if they don't understand—an unknown language? How can such a lie be entered into the records while looking into the faces of 85 million people? Shouldn't the parliament resolve this hypocrisy immediately? In my opinion, solving the "unknown language" problem is at the top of the issues this commission needs to resolve first. Brotherhood, peace, and democracy come after that. Here, the hope lies in the administration of Ekrem İmamoğlu and Özgür Özel. We are hopeful...

Shouldn't our republic, which has surpassed a century, have settled by now? The Republic has two main goals. The first is to be a sufficiently economic country that has developed and prospered, and the second is to create a civic consciousness that has reached contemporary social values. But alas, we have not reached the desired point in either the economy or in achieving contemporary social values. In a country that has reached its second century, there should no longer be an identity problem. We need to build and create a Turkey where no one's identity at birth is ever discussed. One of the first tasks of this commission should be to demonstrate a strong will to solve the identity and language problem. I do not believe that any of the goals of brotherhood, peace, and democracy that make up the commission's name can be achieved without solving the main or fundamental problems.

Great effort must be made for the hope of reaching the goal of a Turkey without terrorism and a democratic Turkey. There is no hope without effort and labor. What happens instead? It becomes wishful thinking. We have no business with wishful thinking.

I see many negatives in front of this commission. First and foremost, one must not fall for the tricks of internal and external sovereign powers and imperialism. If the commission members can ensure the desired brotherhood, peace, and democratic developments despite all kinds of negativity, we will have achieved a historic success.

So, is there hope? I don't want to be pessimistic. However, it feels like there will be many obstacles and hindrances. The people of this country have suffered enough. In our country, where the number of people living below the hunger and poverty lines has increased so much (it has exceeded 70%), this commission is a hope, however small. Let us make every effort to grow this hope. Hope without labor cannot be hope.

We are all experiencing the pride of the great victory that laid the foundations of our republic, which is the symbol of our nation's determination and perseverance, and which allows us to look to the future with hope. I congratulate all our people and our readers on the August 30 Victory Day. To many beautiful days ahead...