Together in war, apart in peace

You may believe, but I do not believe that children will be safe in safe zones.

You may believe, but I do not believe that by manufacturing and selling weapons, and trading war, peace can be brought to the world.

You may believe that when a head of state smiles, they will make their people smile.

You may believe, but I never will!

Even if you don't believe it, I will believe that humans can live without killing...

Well, if world peace does not belong to this world, or if it never has, it seems we need to ask which peace we are talking about.

Then, to ask how many weapons we buy and sell for "peace" today.

Whose peace did we host, and who stepped on the turquoise carpet?

The weather was hot in Ankara; I hope we didn't forget to serve Maraş cut ice cream.

"If we forgot, we'll send it," says a citizen.

Oh, come on, it just takes a plane; if they feel like it, they'll hop on and come, eat their ice cream, swim in our sea, and leave. If they like it a lot, they'll stay; maybe they'll buy a house on the beach, or perhaps an olive grove.

We love our guests...

There are 32 NATO countries, each one loves the other; 23 are already in the European Union, and 25 are gathered under the Schengen umbrella.

The remaining three are the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. They are not geographically suitable for the European Union, but their unity and friendship cannot even be questioned.

That leaves Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and us, who became a member on February 18, 1952: today, the fourth-largest army in NATO.

Including Albania, Montenegro, and Macedonia, but excluding us, the citizens of all—yes, all—other NATO member countries can travel to the Schengen area without a visa.

In other words, even if it's not quite the quality of Maraş ice cream, an Albanian citizen can go to Rome to eat ice cream and stay for up to 90 days if they wish.

A citizen of the Republic of Turkey who does not have a green passport, however, chases after a visa even for a three-day trip to Europe. These are already the minority who are relatively well-off.

As for the majority of the country, let alone vacationing in the Mediterranean or the Aegean, they are calculating how many scoops of ice cream they can buy from the local ice cream shop and how much it will cost. They are thinking about how many times their child can eat ice cream this month. These are the people of this country who work 8, 10, or 12 hours a day.

Isn't there anyone in a worse situation?

Of course there is! Let's look at those who cannot find work, or those who work in mines and cannot get their salaries. The struggle for survival begins anew every day.

Then there are the endless wars around us, continuing from hot to cold with firearms and long-range missiles.

Children have been dying right beside us for years—in Gaza, Iran, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq... And those who survive grow up with their traumas.

I object so strongly to those who found our gift of a weapon after Turkish delight cold and inappropriate...

While arms trade was being discussed at the table, what could have reminded those at the summit of the cold face of war better than a handmade, silver-engraved weapon?

This gift is not for display in war museums. It is for all the children who cannot eat ice cream today...

A handmade pistol with a full magazine told the coldness of war better than even a war photograph.

Handmade weapons...

Like maps intricately crafted.

As if they were war orders born from human hands.

So cold, so real.

Children have died in different geographies of the world with weapons decorated for peace.

At the 36th NATO Summit in Ankara, while wondering if those who decide the geography and even the location of both war and peace tasted our Kahramanmaraş ice cream; we remember that Maraş received the title of "Hero" (Kahraman) as a representation of the civilian population's struggle for independence during the War of Independence.

Today, exactly 31 years ago today, we remember how children and civilians were killed in Srebrenica, in a place declared a "safe zone" by the United Nations. According to official figures, 8,372 civilians!

Is there a safe zone in this world?

In such a world, even a child dreaming of two scoops of ice cream is, of course, a sign of life.

Our consolation is now just to live... We are on a day where we find solace in a life that consists merely of breathing.

There is the option of saying "pray that you are alive," or being able to set aside a budget for ice cream like an ordinary minimum-wage citizen of an ordinary NATO member country whose border falls just a little to the West of us.

Is the citizen whose child has been or will be sent to the military not the same citizen as the one in the regions where security measures are taken with closed roads and barriers in front of their shanty houses?

Aren't they the ones who hang martyr flags on their windowless, doorless shanties? Aren't their children the ones who make Turkey the fourth-largest military power in NATO?

And aren't they the country's brightest minds, working in the favorite institutions of our defense industry, waiting in line for a Schengen visa, their tickets burning with visas that never arrive...

Isn't it our officer, our non-commissioned officer, who, in the duties where they represent Turkey for NATO, is expected to make do with the lowest daily allowance for travel abroad, let alone having the same opportunities as their colleagues from other NATO member countries present at the same table for the same task?

Leaving all that aside, does a citizen who has completed their national service have no share in Turkey being the fourth-largest army in NATO?

As a citizen of a NATO member country that says "Peace at home, peace in the world," I ask the 32 countries:

If we are a "leading" member of NATO, which we joined less than three years after its founding, why are we still the only NATO country subject to the Schengen visa?

If we are together in war, why are we not together in peace?