The conscience of this country is not dead

Yesterday afternoon, the moment I heard the decision to release Mahir Polat under house arrest, tears streamed down my face, just like many others. When consciences stand up, things can be achieved! Seeing the moment Mahir Polat reunited with his family safe and sound due to public pressure was good for all of us. We said, “He may be under house arrest, but at least he will live.”

The struggle waged for days to keep Mahir Polat alive was the main topic of conversation in homes, on the streets, at schools, and even among people who have never been involved in politics. The ever-increasing voice of conscience turned into a piercing scream: “Do not kill Mahir Polat!”

While being taken back and forth between prison and the hospital, on that thin line between life and death, did Mahir Polat feel the voice of conscience in his heart?

But one thing is certain: the resistance to keep Mahir Polat alive united people in goodness.

Just like the struggle waged to secure the freedom of the young people thrown into Silivri.

From Saraçhane to Konak Square, from Şişli to Kızılay, from Istanbul to Anatolia, all over the country, and even in the sister republic, Nicosia, the public is standing up against the great fracture we are experiencing.

Society has cast aside the shroud of “grief” it has been draped in for a long time.

It says, “What is imposed upon me is no longer my nature.” And young people are leading this resistance.

They are on the streets against unemployment, inequality of opportunity, poverty, and injustice; against the unlawful seizure of rights earned “like a diploma”; and most of all, to reclaim their stolen futures.

The courage and fearlessness of the youth have torn away the shroud of grief that had settled over society like a dark cloud.

The first success of this collective struggle was getting Mahir Polat out of Silivri.

The conversion of Polat’s detention to house arrest is not a favor; it is a victory of resistance.

The sentence uttered by Mahir Polat, who has suffered from high blood pressure since he was 21, as he left prison, perfectly describes the sentiment shared by this public.

“The conscience of this country is not dead!”

In the harsh conditions of Silivri, surrounded by concrete, a tiny hollow trapped within that concrete… Dust and dirt accumulated in that hollow… And a four-leaf clover sprouted within that soil… For Mahir Polat, who noticed it, the hope blooming from the country is that four-leaf clover; for this public, it is Mahir Polat, who was pulled from the concrete of Silivri by the will of conscience!