Lift Your Eyes, Meryem!

A new series that premiered this week hit television screens like a bombshell. We knew we were going to watch a conservative-themed show, but I don't think any of us could have predicted it would dive into the subject so harshly and clearly.

Yes, I am talking about the series Kızıl Goncalar (Red Buds). We understand that Kızıl Goncalar—which tells the story of Levent (Özcan Deniz), a secular Kemalist doctor whose father was one of the February 28 officers, and Meryem (Özgü Namal), a woman condemned to live within a religious sect after being married off to a man against her will at the age of fourteen—has deeply disturbed a certain segment of the population.

As Show TV's legendary series Kızılcık Şerbeti (Cranberry Sherbet) broke ratings records over the last year, we all took our places in front of our screens on Friday nights. We continue to watch the conflicts, habits, customs, and ingrained biases of two families who are polar opposites, sometimes laughing, sometimes getting angry, sometimes criticizing, and sometimes empathizing. These are situations we frequently encounter in normal life, perhaps even in our own circles, but it is very gratifying that they are starting to be discussed out loud, and especially that they have become a subject explored on television screens.

After Kızılcık Şerbeti, which fairly conveyed the sentiment that 'even if we are two different poles, we live in the same environment and must look at each other with understanding and practice empathy,' we more or less guessed that we would be watching a new secular-conservative series when the promos for Kızıl Goncalar began to air. But when the show started, we saw that it had a subject matter far beyond our predictions. We began to watch a life we are not accustomed to, from within a world whose doors are completely closed to us. A story of a religious sect living in a neighborhood far from modernism and closed to the secular segment... Like the Amish community in New York... These sect neighborhoods exist in many parts of the world. They exist in Istanbul, and they exist in Adıyaman, but we only heard about the ones that belong to us; we never saw them... That is why the series hit the screen like a bombshell.

In its very first week of broadcast, the series disturbed some people so much that the complaints made to CİMER (Presidential Communication Center) and the citizens who showed up at the door of RTÜK (Radio and Television Supreme Council) achieved their goal. RTÜK Chairman Ebubekir Şahin intervened without wasting any time, stating, "Complaint notifications from our citizens regarding the latest series broadcast on FOX TV are being meticulously recorded through our call center. All complaints are being examined by our experts at the supreme council responsible for the supervision of the broadcasting organization in question."

Hashtags were opened on Twitter, and a mob foaming at the mouth lost their composure while criticizing the series, shouting at the top of their lungs, 'Oh, you always show the conservative as ignorant, a fraud, and bad, and you always show the secular as moral and good.' Eventually, the topic turned to 'you cannot take the name of Allah in your mouth,' and the İsmailağa community published a statement condemning the series without delay.

So why be so disturbed?

It is impossible for someone who has never been involved with religious sects to write this series with such detail. So, is it a mole leaking information from the inside, a whistleblower telling the screenwriter everything, a repentant person who escaped from there—but regardless of who it is, is it the knowledge that the narrator is one of them?

Is it the exposure of living conditions that are contrary to Atatürk's principles and the Republic?

Young girls married off at a child's age, a young girl teaching Quran courses who is dying to marry her cousin, another young girl who is not sent to school and does not even have a say in the matter, ignorant men who serve others and stand in a submissive posture before someone with a higher rank (!), poor women who cannot disobey them—in short, did it receive such a reaction because it exposed a great abuse where whoever has the power exerts it on whoever they can?

Or is it because, even though we have only watched one episode, it rubbed all the country's wounds in our faces?

Forced migration due to the earthquake, child abduction, abuse, women not being allowed to work, February 28, irregularities in the healthcare system, harassment, child brides, personal development gurus, 'yes but' supporters, Quran courses and consequently children deprived of their right to education, doctors leaving the country, girls not being sent to school, students turning into racehorses within the education system, religious sects, every door being opened through nepotism obtained via partisanship, excuses made for stolen minarets... it is truly very disturbing! But what is disturbing is not watching these on television, but the fact that they exist in real life in a much more crushing way! THEY EXIST! THEY EXIST!!!

In short, one should not discuss how this series portrays the conservative or the secular, but rather why these things cannot be prevented in our country's political atmosphere.

Unfortunately, these are not stories; they are the reality itself... If this story belongs to these lands, we should be disturbed by the facts, not the series; we should be ashamed.

I want to tell you about a scene that has been on my mind for days.

A husband who constantly gives orders while talking to his wife and makes decisions for her shouts at her: DON'T LIFT YOUR EYES, DON'T LIFT THOSE EYES!

Lift your eyes, and open your ears, listen to me well, Meryem.

Oh Meryem, perhaps you don't know. Because you were forced into marriage at 14, you couldn't study, you got used to living what was imposed on you, you couldn't question, you couldn't object, you couldn't learn the truth; perhaps out of helplessness, perhaps out of weakness, you obey, but let me tell you.

Atatürk said to all the women of this country, "Turkish woman, you are worthy of rising on shoulders." By ensuring the adoption of the Turkish Civil Code on February 17, 1926, he granted advanced rights.

Your husband is obliged to have only one marriage. Individuals under the age of 18 are considered children and cannot marry. Regardless of age, no one can be forced into marriage without their consent. If you divorce, the right of custody belongs to the woman. You have an equal right to inheritance as your husband. Your husband cannot divorce you unilaterally; you can only divorce in the presence of a court with the consent of both parties. You have the right to vote and be elected. Meryem, you can educate your daughter...

Lift your eyes, Meryem, don't be afraid of anyone, lift your eyes...