The final interview with Muazzez İlmiye Çığ by 12punto writer Dr. Şenol Çarık: We are the children of the Republic, I am deeply saddened by the state of our country

A child of the Republic, a doyenne of Sumerology, and a figure who passed away at the age of 110, Muazzez İlmiye Çığ expressed her sorrow over the state of the country in her final interview, stating, "We are the children of the Republic; we all need to stand up and do something." 12punto writer Dr. Şenol Çarık shared the final interview he conducted with Muazzez İlmiye Çığ...

Don't leave your news choices to an algorithm - decide for yourself what you read. Add 12punto to your preferred sources!

Farewell Muazzez İlmiye Çığ… In our interview, she had said, “We are the children of the Republic. I am deeply saddened when I see the state of our country. We all need to stand up and do something.”

Şenol Çarık

The last ‘Sumerian queen’, a productive intellectual of the Republic, enlightenment, science, and culture, Muazzez İlmiye Çığ has left us at the age of 110…

I visited her at her home in Ataköy in February 2013 and conducted an interview. During the time she spared for us amidst her intensive book work, one topic led to another, and the conversation deepened. Çığ was 99 years old at the time of our interview and had said, “I am striving to look forward and build tomorrow.” She emphasized that the most important issue was the situation in Turkey and stated, “Look, don't you see the state of our country? We all need to stand up and do something. I am deeply saddened when I see the state of our country. We are the children of the Republic. We lived through beautiful days. The Republic raised us, educated us. Believe me, I feel a great sadness when I look at the current situation.” She was there in Silivri to support the patriots tried in the FETÖ conspiracy, and she was also at Gezi…

May the great plane tree rest in light…

I would like to share the interview we conducted with Muazzez İlmiye Çığ with you once again…

On a rainy Istanbul evening, we knocked on the door of the youngest love goddess at the age of 99.

My friend Deniz Toprak immediately pointed to the doorbell and pressed the shutter. It read “Kemal Çığ” on the bell. Muazzez İlmiye Çığ opened the door; with a smile on her face, she said, “Come on in, I have a lot of work to do. I am preparing a book. Let's do our interview, and then I'll get back to my work.”

We witnessed the tireless love for work of this scientific giant who was nearing her hundredth year. While she spoke about the state of the country today and went back to the past, mentioning her husband Kemal Bey, who passed away 30 years ago, the light of hope and laughter that never faded from her eyes throughout the interview gave us energy and warmed our hearts.

We chatted with this torch of science, who has been reading Sumerian cuneiform tablets for many years without pause and has contributed countless works, and we also talked about love and affection...

“MY PASSION FOR PRODUCING STILL CONTINUES”

Şenol Çarık: You are very busy again. Thank you very much for sparing time for us.

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: I thank you too. Musa Ağacık also came before you, we did an interview. I have a book project on the one hand.

-You are 99 years old and still producing. Where do you find this energy, what do you owe your performance to?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: To health. I don't have an illness that bothers me much. Well, sometimes my stomach hurts, my knees ache, etc., these exist. I mean, I'm not a perfectly healthy person. But I have a nature; I don't dwell on things by magnifying them. I don't lie down saying, “Oh, I'm sick.” I'm fine. I'm young, I have more work to do.

-You mentioned a new book preparation, could you tell us about it?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: My new work is a book showing that the Sumerians were Turks. Look, it's on my desk, in the draft stage. I was working on it before you arrived. It is a scientific study. I am revealing the cultural connection between the Sumerians and the Turks. It will be published by Kaynak Yayınları soon. My passion for producing still continues. On the other hand, I'm picking fights here and there, as you can see.

-We wish you success in this work. Today we will talk to you about love and affection.

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: (Laughing) So, a bit of tabloid stuff.

-No, not exactly like that, actually.

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: (Laughing) Alright then, we'll see.

-You translated the first known love poem in history from Sumerian tablets into Turkish. You introduced us to the Sumerian love goddess ‘The Love of Inanna’.

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: Yes, Inanna is the Sumerian goddess of love, affection, fertility, and at the same time, war. This is really very interesting. They place war alongside love and fertility. This is the first love poem known in history. Perhaps more will be found, I don't know. We found this in our museum and published it. Rather than a true love, there is a ceremony. A love goddess and a shepherd god, they are husband and wife. The love goddess gets angry at her husband and sends him to the underworld. It's a long story. But it's worth reading.

-What comes to your mind when love is mentioned?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: Love means to love something wholeheartedly, to show passion. This love can be not only for a person but also for a job. It can also be for a work you do. Love is the affection, desire, and passion within people.

-We will celebrate your 99th birthday in June.

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: Yes, we are turning 100. But I am young, man. I'm still in my 20s. (Laughing)

-Speaking of love, could you tell us about your first love?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: It was already the first and last one. I loved a man, and we got married. We married Kemal Çığ in 1940. He later became the Director of the Topkapı Museum. He passed away in 1983. We lived a very beautiful life. We always loved each other. Just like the first day.

He said to me; “My life will be spent loving you, and the last beat of my heart will again be your name,” he said my name, and that's how he died.

-How did you meet?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: At the faculty. We were studying at the Faculty of Language, History and Geography. He was in Turcology. We met, we got engaged. We stayed engaged for three years. We had a tremendous love.

-Did you never love anyone before Kemal Bey?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: No, dear. In our time, there was no such thing as love or anything.

-How were those days?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: It was truly very interesting. I was a teacher, I had a large circle. At that time, officers, aviators; we had a large group. We would gather together, go to balls, dance in houses. We would have fun, once a week with instruments. But, would you believe it, not the slightest thing would happen between us. We are surprised by these things now, aren't we? My friends were also surprised when I came back engaged. “We never thought such a thing would happen,” they said.

-How old were you when you got engaged?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: I was 23 when I got engaged, and I married at 26.

-Did Kemal Bey ever write you a poem?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: No, he didn't.

-Did he read poetry?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: Yes, he read poetry very beautifully, but I don't remember any. His voice was very beautiful. It was an untrained voice.

-You have a book of poetry. Did you ever write poetry in those years?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: No, I didn't write poetry or anything back then. I was reading a lot at that time, especially Nazım Hikmet. I was already a person who loved to read, I would read whatever I could get my hands on.

-Did you write letters to each other?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: We wrote many letters to each other.

-Did anyone other than Kemal Bey ever write you a letter?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: (Laughing) What kind of letters, love letters? No, no, I never received any.

-You are doing a program on Kanal B with Hayrettin Karaca. Hayrettin Bey even said that he declared his love to you and bought you a solitaire ring.

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: (Laughing) Don't mind him. Hayrettin Bey is just teasing, he recites folk poems, but that's all. After this age… (laughing) That's all there is to it… I accept them as jokes. I said, “I won't accept you approaching me without buying a ten-carat solitaire ring like that.” After that, he continues; “ten stones”. I mean, what can I say, ours is a friendship. We are both on the same wavelength. He is younger than me, but we are people of the same era. We had a beautiful, good dialogue.

-Did no one else enter your life after Kemal Bey's passing? Did you not love anyone?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: (Laughing) I didn't have time to love, honestly. A person needs to have time for such things. Only, my brother had an American friend, a professor. When I went to New York, we would talk. One day, he said, “Look here”: “Maybe I've seen two hundred women in my life. Among them, I have three favorites, and you are the first among them,” he said. That's how it was. He always sends me books.

“WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE REPUBLIC”

-Have you had any regrets in life? Things you still lament, saying I wish I hadn't done that?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: No, I have no regrets in this life. What happened was according to the conditions of that day. It had to be lived that way, and it was lived. I am striving to look forward and build tomorrow. Look, don't you see the state of our country? We all need to stand up and do something. I am deeply saddened when I see the state of our country. We are the children of the Republic. We lived through beautiful days. The Republic raised us, educated us. Believe me, I feel a great sadness when I look at the current situation.

“I WOULD LIKE TO BE AN ASTRONAUT”

-It was a truly beautiful conversation. Thank you very much. Let me not finish without asking this question. If you were to come to the world again, would you want to be a Sumerologist again?

Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: According to the conditions of that time (laughing), I don't know. Maybe I'll be an astronaut then. I really like space sciences. Perhaps more interesting things will come up, you never know. I thank you all very much too.

News Source: 12punto