The more you fear, the more you are controlled!

The Bandırma Ferry anchored off a wooden pier in Samsun on May 19, three days after leaving Istanbul. It had been a rather difficult journey. When they set off for Samsun on May 16, following the occupation forces' search for weapons on the Bandırma Ferry, Mustafa Kemal had said;

“They cannot understand the strength of those who have decided to die for the sake of freedom. We are not taking weapons or ammunition to Anatolia; we are taking ideals and faith.”

Mustafa Kemal and his companions quickly settled into the “Mıntıka Palas”. The hotel had been empty for a long time. It was made usable at the last minute with beds provided from the military hospital and sheets taken from neighboring houses. Mustafa Kemal immediately began to work. The army's patriotic officer corps was ready to defend the country. On May 19, 1919, Mustafa Kemal announced his decision to gather the disparate elements of the Turkish resistance under his own leadership, thereby launching the War of Independence.

Throughout the struggle for independence, in order to maintain integrity, he would have to keep 'the great capacity for development that the nation felt in its conscience and future like a national secret.' (Andrew Mango-Atatürk)

After founding the Republic of Turkey, Atatürk declared his own birthday, May 19, as the day he launched the National Struggle. And he gifted this day to the youth.

Today is May 19! As we celebrate the Commemoration of Atatürk and Youth Day 105 years later, our heads are bowed and our hearts are heavy.

Youth unemployment in Turkey is above the world average.

Young people are either unemployed or working for minimum wage!

Nearly 5 million young people under the age of 30 are neither in education nor in employment. We have gifted the world a term called “home youth.”

73 percent of young people want to emigrate from Turkey and live abroad due to poor economic, political, and social conditions.

77 percent of young people do not trust politicians and political institutions.

According to TÜİK data, 1 million 200 thousand young people have emigrated from Turkey since 2020.

Unfortunately, on the 105th anniversary of May 19, the cheapest thing in Turkey is human life!

Justice does not operate according to the rule of law, but according to the law of the powerful.

The minimum wage is below the hunger threshold!

Food inflation is in the 84-108 percent band!

The high cost of living shows no signs of slowing down.

Despair, like two dark hands gripping our throats, is choking us more and more.

And the citizens are afraid.

Young people abandoned to hopelessness,

Parents and teachers who cannot raise their voices against curriculum changes made through imposition rather than participation,

Retirees condemned to a 10 thousand TL salary and abandoned to hunger,

The opposition that postponed the rally to protect the Constitution,

The more you fear, the more you are controlled.

Yet, courage is the step taken in spite of fear.

Happy May 19!