Fatih Altaylı’s 'October 29' jab at the AKP: 'I think we owe this level of enthusiasm to the government'

Journalist Fatih Altaylı, regarding the enthusiastic nationwide celebration of the 100th anniversary of Republic Day yesterday, said, “I think we owe the fact that October 29 Republic Day was celebrated so wholeheartedly, so sincerely, and with such enthusiasm to the government. By not celebrating it themselves, they reminded us of the value of the Republic.”

In his article titled "Thanks to them, we had a real holiday" written on his own website, Altaylı used the following expressions: 

"There is a saying that a bad neighbor makes you a homeowner; how well it fit yesterday. The AK Party made the nation own its holiday. We became the owners of Republic Day. I think I was 6 years old during the first Republic Day celebrations I remember. My late father and my mother—may God grant her a long and healthy life—had taken me by the hand and brought me to the celebrations in Taksim, I believe. The second one I remember is the celebration I watched in İzmir the following year; I was with my late grandmother, may she rest in peace. It was the first torchlight procession I had ever seen in my life. I was very impressed. All of them had a sense of formality, a military ceremony atmosphere, and the weight of the state. Afterwards, we always saw and knew official holidays, except for April 23 and May 19, in this way."

Stating that the celebration of holidays disappeared once the AKP years began, Altaylı continued as follows:

"Even the 100th anniversary was intended to be turned into an event that the state should celebrate with minimal display and which was abandoned for the sake of Palestine. And that is where the nation stepped in. The nation and civil society claimed the heritage. Companies that knew they owed their existence to the Republic began to celebrate. Even though millions were on the streets, we celebrated our holiday in peace, embracing one another, without the slightest incident. I watched and listened to every anthem, every post, and every sentence throughout the day with tears in my eyes. I think we owe the fact that October 29 Republic Day was celebrated so wholeheartedly, so sincerely, and with such enthusiasm to the government. By not celebrating it themselves, they reminded us of the value of the Republic. By not attaching importance to national holidays, they showed the importance of national holidays. We learned to claim our holiday from those who did not claim it. Just as Abu al-Ala' al-Ma'arri said."

News Source: 12punto