Tensions are high

We landed in Elazığ via Ajet, connecting through Esenboğa, right on time. It was evening and the sky had turned dark. We were in the Tunceli VIP minibus with Ramazan Tanal, the new chairman of the board of TÜLOV (Turkey Promotion, Research, Democracy and Secularism Foundation). Tanal underlined it again, saying, "We are going by VIP." VIP?

The people of Tunceli have apparently found the terms "dolmuş" (shared taxi) or "minibus" insufficient for these 17-passenger vehicles, so they added the abbreviation for the English words VIP (Very Important Person or Persons) to the name. Looking back, it is said that the word "dolmuş" is the ancestor of the word "minibus." In fact, the history of this subject goes back to 1934 in Istanbul. Dolmuş, Minibus, and VIP...

Although the whiteness of the falling snow was not quite as bright as the moonlight, we had a journey that was brighter than pitch darkness. As we approached Tunceli, the thickness of the snow increased.

Our journey passed by listening to the revolutionary folk songs of our youth. At the final stop, we got off with the honor and pride of VIP passengers, along with Ramazan Tanal. The roads were about to freeze. As we walked carefully toward the Şaroğlu Hotel to avoid slipping, the cold began to make itself felt. At the hotel entrance, we met Mr. Polat Şaroğlu, a member of the CHP Party Assembly and a former Tunceli deputy. He was happy to see us. After he welcomed us, we left our belongings at the reception and went into the "OT Restaurant" on the hotel veranda to warm up. We found a warmer table and sat down. While we were drinking our soup, an acquaintance from Tunceli came to our table and sat across from me.

After the initial pleasantries of the meeting, while we were chatting about Tunceli, Munzur, and Kamer Genç, a young man of about 25-30 years old at the next table stood up. He furiously began to strike our guest with all his might. Amidst my shock, Ramazan Tanal and the restaurant staff quickly grabbed the attacker and took him outside. When our guest calmed down, I asked, "I don't know him at all!? This is the first time I've seen him," he said. Like us, everyone in the room was confused and we were looking at each other. Why did this happen and what is going on?

Our guest sat for a little longer, then asked to be excused and left. No explanation came from the authorities or the restaurant staff. The restaurant emptied out, and we went up to our rooms. When we went down for breakfast in the morning, we inquired about the incident, but no one could provide any explanation. Our guest also came to the hotel to pick us up. While we were sipping our tea, we asked about the unpleasant incident from the evening before. The attacker had called our guest late at night, apologized, and said, "I just found your number. I'm sorry, I mistook you for someone else." Is it that easy? We see such incidents, which can result in death, in the news every day and experience them in our surroundings. I won't go into further details.

Tensions are high. No matter which TV channel you turn on, there are countless scenes of weapons and fights in movies and series. The news is full of femicides, street incidents, and students with weapons in schools. There are tense hours in politics, tensions in the statements of TBMM members and party spokespeople, and accusations. In the economy, violence stemming from livelihood struggles has spread to homes, spouses, workplaces, and even ordinary women and children. Looking at the world in general, the events in Gaza, and the ugly actions, statements, and tensions made by some heads of state, especially US President Trump, are becoming a trend both at the individual level and in global life. Where will these tensions lead? Doesn't the world need peace?

On the 10th anniversary of the death of the people's deputy Kamer Genç, we met at his graveside with his family (his wife Sevim Hanım, his children Seçil and Seçkin) and his loved ones. Our longing has never ended. We once again expressed in our speeches his magnificent struggles in the TBMM, his love for humanity, and his passion for Munzur and Tunceli.

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, Malatya Deputy Veli Ağbaba, and other friends who come to his graveside every year on January 22nd had a stance as if to say, "I wish I were there too," as they praised the struggles in Parliament for retirees and laborers.

He was enthusiastically applauding Veli Ağbaba's gravestone and coffin protest at the parliamentary podium. Under the snow that rose to our shoulders, amidst prayers and carnations, we said goodbye, leaving him alone with the Munzur mountains. As we left, he made us feel that he was with us on this path we set out on to reach the "Free, Democratic, and Fully Independent Turkey" that he desired so much and entrusted to us, and he was waving us off. That is how I felt.

May your soul rest in peace, people's deputy Kamer Genç.