Fulfilling the requirements of being an intellectual

The Republic of Turkey was founded as a result of a war waged against imperialism under the leadership of the great Atatürk, and by defeating imperialism. The Turks formed the front line of humanity in the war against imperialism.

Imperialism's attacks on Turkey continue; economic, cultural, political, and ideological attacks are organized and on the agenda. If these attacks were directed at a Western country—for instance, Germany, France, or England—those countries would not exist today. Turkey is resisting.

Hüseyin Özbek is one of the intellectuals who has taken his place in this resistance. His book, published under the title Monumentalizing Shame, consists of articles written at various times within the scope of resistance against imperialism. The articles aim to produce solutions to the problems the country faces. There is a common perspective in the articles, which has given the book integrity. In contrast to the extensions of imperialism on the domestic front proposing fake solutions to fake problems, the approach of producing real solutions to real problems has been adopted.

The articles are related to the agendas of the periods in which they were written. This gives them the quality of historical testimony; the author is not merely an observer of the realities he encounters, but also aims to fulfill the requirements of his own struggle through the evaluations he makes.

Historical background sheds light on some of the current issues addressed in the articles; in the light of history, the subjects appear more clearly. The article that gives the book its title, 'Monumentalizing Shame', is one of the examples showing that the subject cannot be understood without looking through the lens of history.

The 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War is one of the tragedies of Turkish history; the loss of land and state prestige for the Turks is very significant. The Russians erected a monument to their victory in Yeşilköy. It was reflected in the press that the re-erection of this monument, which was blown up during the First World War, was a subject of agreement in the negotiations held by the current government with Russia representing Turkey.

The author has addressed this issue within its historical depth, made analyses, and expressed the wrongness of what was done; he has revealed that the event, which was brought to the agenda by the current government as if it were a normal matter, is actually “Monumentalizing Shame.”

Each article in the book addresses a specific topic. For example, the issue of the Heybeliada Seminary. It is understood that Turkey is facing a project on this matter; the author reveals the danger into which this project is dragging Turkey through multi-faceted evaluations.

The Treaty of Lausanne is the title deed of the Republic of Turkey. Those who attack the Republic of Turkey also attack Lausanne. The author has analyzed the subject in detail in his article on Lausanne. The title of the article is a summary of the author's thesis: “A Unique Example of Crowning Military Victory with Diplomatic Victory: The Treaty of Lausanne, the Title Deed of the Republic of Turkey.”

A few articles are on the Armenian issue. The subject has been handled from various aspects, problems have been identified, and some solutions have been proposed. The articles are the product of intense labor and are realistic.

In the article on Germany, the focus is on the analysis of integration and how deputies of foreign origin are more "Germanist" than the Germans themselves.

Some series were broadcast on television; the issue of the goal of corrupting the sense of patriotism in these series took its place on the discussion agenda; the primary one among these is the debate on portraying a traitor as if they were on duty and attempting to legitimize treason. The author also made this a subject of an article and presented evaluations that enlighten public opinion.

In the book, topics such as freedom of the press, the colonial intellectual, the postmodern Hellenic attack, the postmodern Navarino raid, Preveza, Lepanto, Sarıkamış, the separation of powers, Alevism, etc., have been addressed and evaluated.

This book is a product of selfless labor in fulfilling the requirements of being an intellectual.

Dr. Mehmet SARITAŞ

News Source: mehmet Sarıtaş