HOLY TERROR

Sadullah Ergin, Turkish Justice Minister

HOLY TERROR

I read the news today, oh boy*. There are thousands of kids, 12-18 years old, in jail in Turkey. They have thrown stones. They have thrown eggs. They have thrown words. They hate their poverty. They despise their incompetent education. They loathe their miserable lives, their oppressive government, their oppressive families, their oppressive youth, themselves. They are terrorists. And they have fully earned their jailing. At all costs, “civilized” society must be protected. Look at it, this civilized society. The way it drives its automobiles. The way its politicians conduct their public discourses. The way fathers and sons murder their daughters and sisters to preserve family honor. The way it visits violence upon its women. Look at it!

In  one jail, Pozantı Prison in Adana, two hundred children (or would “little criminals” be more appropriate?) are regularly and systematically rehabilitated through torture and rape. More specifically, the forceful application of their heads against hard substances like elevator doors and walls. They are taught proper hygiene by being stripped naked. The ensuing forceful application of freezing cold water is judged by prison management to be invigoratingly therapeutic. And who could ever question the lusty and manly application of canes against the bare soles of the feet? The bastinado leaves no visible marks, is easy to administer, and is guaranteed to cause exquisite pain with time-proven results. Oh boy.

Something should be done. I mean, while poverty, ignorance, oppression, and the throwing of stones and eggs isn’t nice, it doesn’t deserve being beaten and raped. Or does it? After all this is Turkey.

Actually this is not exactly news. The kids have been writing letters to the authorities for a year. They were complaining about the nature of their rehabilitation therapy, asking to be transferred to a new prison under new management. But obviously the gears of the Minister of Justice, Sadullah Ergin, turn slowly. Poor, busy man, he must deal with such legal tragic-comedies as Ergenekon, Birdcage, Deniz Feneri, and the crafting of a new, more democratic Turkish constitution. So no wonder it took him awhile to promote, reward and transfer the managers of the Pozantı Prison. But now the justice minister knows the real story. And now the justice minister has acted. He will transfer the boys to Sincan Prison at Ankara. No doubt the boys will be going to a far, far, better place. It would be pretty to think so. It would also be pretty stupid to think so.

For the promoted warden of Pozantı Prison is now the warden at Sincan. A perfect choice to fix the system. The perfect felon to remediate and rehabilitate these troubled and destroyed boys. Wouldn’t you agree? Such are the workings of the ruling party in Turkey. Isn’t political Islam wonderful? But the saddest part of this story is that it was a tale told years ago, twenty-nine, to be precise. Stale news, indeed.

I saw a film made twenty-nine years ago, oh boy. By Yilmaz Güney, oh boy. He was supposed to have been a communist, oh boy. Have you seen the film? Lately? Ever? For me, it’s the saddest film. It was the last film Güney made. He shot it in France. The French government cooperated with him. Treacherous France, oh boy. The movie was banned in Turkey, nothing new here. The title of the film is the same as the item that the guards at Pozantı used as therapeutic devices on the heads of the boys—the wall (duvar). DUVAR!

The film DUVAR depicts the brutal aftermath of the 1980 fascist, US-supported military coup in Turkey through the experiences of children in a hell-hole of a prison near Ankara. For these abused kids, trapped in a violent penal system, happiness is being transferred to another prison, a kinder, gentler prison. So go the rumors. The kids plead and plead, write letters, all to no avail. But after experiencing horrendous violence and a fire, they are transferred. And at the new prison, what happens? Their old warden has been reassigned. They are reunited. Sound familiar? Sound far-fetched? See DUVAR and you will see Turkey today. Oh boy. Oh god.

Cem Ryan

Istanbul, 6 March 2012

*”I read the news today oh boy About a lucky man who made the grade”

A Day in the Life, The Beatles, 1967