There are other children who simply don't care how their work looks. But I greatly respect children who really try to do their best and always find the energy to make a clean copy of their draft work. When I see a child who is making a clean copy of his or her homework with the utmost concentration, something inside me melts. First of all, I truly respect this kind of student, just as I respect societies that are about to or are trying to cleanse their collective mind, conscience and heart.Our dominant political culture until now has been similar to students who simply don't care about their homework. It was never interested in what was going on around the world and in the near abroad; it refused to evaluate or even think about certain subjects, such as the possibility of elite bureaucrats being involved in crimes, questioning the meaning of terror and certain events in history such as 1915 and Sept. 6-7, 1955, which was one the very first operations of the deep state and which ended with the mass migration of non-Muslim Turkish citizens out of the country.
Sometimes lazy students suddenly discover reality and decide to change their attitudes; something makes them to come to their senses, and they start to rewrite their homework. The righteous reaction of Turkish society to the massacre in Gaza and the Ergenekon investigation can have the same effect; these two developments can cause our dominant political culture to find the strength to cleanse our collective conscience, mind and heart from the guilt.
The reaction of Turkish society to the massacre in Gaza proves that this society is actually able to stand resolutely against unfair actions. The Ergenekon investigation provides an opportunity to question many things that our dominant culture has been hesitant to look into until now.
It seems to me that after getting angry, frustrated and feeling so much pain due to the massacre in Gaza, it would be very difficult for our dominant political culture to close its eyes to its internal problems. It would be very difficult for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to turn a blind eye to political killings after what he said in Davos. Turkey, and its society and leaders, after standing against the cruelty in Palestine, must clear its conscience regarding its internal problems, too.
For example, after crying so much for the children of Gaza, surely it is time for us to start thinking seriously about the 17 teenagers who were sentenced over the last two months to varying prison terms for being members of illegal organizations in Adana. It is time for us to say something other than "the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK] is using teenagers as human shields and putting them on the front lines at illegal demonstrations." Yes, of course, the circumstances and conditions are very different, but it is time for Turkey to change its penal code, which allows youths above the age of 15 to be tried as adults. In the end we are talking about children whose rights are violated either on the battlefield or in the courtroom.
The Ergenekon investigation can help us cleanse our conscience, too. Just a small example: After learning that the police have actually identified one of the Ergenekon suspects as the provocateur of a flag-burning incident in Mersin during the Nevruz celebrations in 2005, which led to mass demonstrations all over Turkey and sparked anti-Kurdish sentiment among the public, can we refrain from cleansing our collective mind and heart and rethinking all other incendiary events?
Lazy students cannot change their attitude in a short time; they need to make an effort, and they need to be supported. It takes time, but when they are able to overcome challenges, they usually become the best student in the class, just like societies that are able to ease their collective conscience -- then no one can claim that they should first put their own house in order before criticizing others.
