Ertugrul Ozkok: Living in the empire of fear in Turkey

I congratulate the former head of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association, Eren Keskin, who is now a lawyer representing Abdullah Ocalan.

She filed a criminal complaint while the rest of us acted in complicity with a crime by sitting back in fear and doing nothing to counter racism.

People in Bursa's Orhangazi town walk around carrying a banner that reads "Dogs can enter here, but no Jews and Armenians" and the conscience of this country says nothing.

Because everybody is scared. I am scared as well.

I don't know what the prime minister would say if I were to stand up and say "Don't destroy the dignity and lives of others in the name of those killed in Gaza."

Would he add Hurriyet to the list of newspapers that he has labeled "Jewish media"?

Yes I must confess that I am scared.

* * *
I feel a deep solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

But I think it is extremely dangerous and wrong for schools in Turkey to hold a minute of silence for the Palestinians.

There are many reasons for this.

The Palestinian issue is a political matter.

And I don't want to see politics played out in our schools.

I believe the children should be taught to love, not hate.

We should stop and think about what we would say if at any time in the future some country asked its school children to hold a minute of silence on April 24?

If you objected to this, wouldn't they then be able to show pictures of Turkish school children standing for a minute’s silence?

How would you respond when they say, "You said this was not anything against Jews. And this is not anything against Turks. The motive is humanity"?

Do you have the courage to respond to this by saying "What my fathers did is none of my business"?

If it is so easy to do, then why don't you do it today?

I want to say this out loud and see it in the headlines.

But once again I confess that I am scared.

Because I am certain that the person who complains about being labeled, is also the same person that will label us as a "Zionist" and a Jewish newspaper.

I am concerned that this crowd mobilized by the moment of silence in our schools would not just leave it at that.

* * *
I am also frightened by the Ergenekon case.

I state loudly: "The gangs should be eliminated".

But I want to write about the things I feel when I see that the case is being improperly carried out when it violates human rights and the law.

I want to ask "What are you doing? Do you have the right to do these things, to terrorize people and to use this as a tool to silence those who annoy you?"

I am not even able to write this. Because I am scared.

Because a group of people who continue to call themselves "liberals" and "democrats", without any sense of shame, are there, ready and waiting to lynch me.

They yell and point their fingers at us, ignoring the legal prosecutors, despite the fact that I can't even write freely and express my anger as I wish:
 
"What are you waiting for, put them behind bars, too."

A few so-called liberal journalists, so-called intellectuals, seized power and made a fascist regime permanent.

The current atmosphere resembles a civilian version of the Sept. 12 military coup in 1980.
 
They will immediately label you as "Coup-plotters" and "Ergenekon supporters" if you write of even the smallest objection.

And we are heading towards a rule of law nation.

Are we...?