Dear friends, comrades
The guards have brought your letters when I was in the open-air-area.
The guard gave the letters which are full of love and comrades’ salutes.
“There are so many letters that our eyes hurt when reading them all.” he
said jokingly. I said, “I am a political prisoner, it seems like you will
get tired of the letters I receive.”
Friends, they keep me in a cell in L type prison. When I arrived I
indicated that I was a political prisoner. The head of the prison
rightly (!) said that it would be wrong to keep me in a ward. Then they put me
in a one-person cell. I said that it did not matter to me, and I will make
the necessary applications to be transferred to the F type prison.
Neither the head of the prison, nor the guards or prisoners I met from other
cells and at the open-air space could understand why they brought me to the L
type prison. In fact, after it was finalized that I was going to be
imprisoned - outside the court hall when you were waiting at one end
and I was waiting at the other - I told my lawyer that I was going to be
imprisoned with the ‘criminal prisoners’ and I would object to that. At
the court, the offenses of “Changing the evidences according to the law
numbered 100/2 in the Code of Criminal Procedure, attending a meeting
and coordinating it illegally against the law 2911 on public meetings and
marches, insulting the officer on duty” were tried to be imposed on me.
These definitions correspond to the attack and the battering we were
exposed to, that day! On, Wednesday 6th of January, on Yüksel Street in
Ankara, a lynch attempt similar to the ones in Edirne, Erzincan,
Manisa/Selendi and İzmir has taken place during the press declaration
that was organized to raise solidarity with the conscientious objector Enver
Aydemir. During the press declaration, we experienced altogether a
repeated lynch attempt. The events were witnessed by the public. Yüksel
Street is a location where a number of press declarations are made
everyday. That day, we witnessed that the lynch campaign that is tried
to be seeded in these lands is taken a step further. In order to justify
their attack, they try to cancel the will power that is being attacked.
The massacres and lynches are tried to be normalized in this territory.
At the Sivas, Çorum, Maraş, Gazi and 19th of December massacres,
oppositional voices are tried to be suppressed with the words “citizen’s sensitivity”
and “the officers performed their duties”. Militarism is tried to be
normalized. I am writing this letter on 19th of January: The third
anniversary of Hrant Dink’s murder.
Shall we call this the irony of the history? Yesterday (18th of January)
was the day Abdi İpekçi’s murderer Ağca was released! A “mysterious” hit
man “full of secrets” is tried to be heroized through the intense
interest of the media. This reputable (!) person said that he does not want to do
his military service because of “religious and philosophical” reasons.
We are talking about Ağca who was sneaked out of prison in a military
uniform… Oh my! Ağca who was given an anti-social personality report is
“misunderstood” and after this declaration probably he is issued the
necessary reports to over come the complications. Let’s see what kind of
ways the Messiah we were expecting will start looking for in order to
receive the 3 million dollars bail?
By taking advantage of this situation, a columnist in Hürriyet
newspaper, Yılmaz Özdil wrote an article titled “Conscientious Objection” on 19th
of January. He says “The ones who want to get away from military service
can not say that they chicken out, instead they talk about conscientious
objection”.
With a brazen attitude, Mr. Özdil gave utterance to the declarations of
the “mysterious” hit-man while sitting on his comfortable chair. Maybe
your chair is too low Mr. Özdil? It is hard for your aristocratic
“conscience” to get the stance of the conscientious objectors’ struggle in
this geography which is carried out since 1989. Murat Ülke, Mehmet Bal,
Mehmet Tarhan and Halil Savda, who declared that they will not take orders
from any power or authority, were tortured. And conscientious objector
Enver Aydemir, who is exposed to several punishments, is still
imprisoned in Eskişehir Prison. More than 50 thousand people died on these lands in
20 years because of war. Global lords are seizing lives of people all
around world; in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. They want us to become a
part of the destroyed lives. The authorities, who are responsible of the
events which cause the death of 66 people every minute around the world,
will not be able to seize our consciences and our lives; they will not
be able to keep them under captivity. Özdil keeps on writing “there are
enough people in this country with conscience!” … Yes, more than you
could ever imagine! Uğur Kaymaz, Ceylan; Çağdaş Gemlik and Murat Kasap who
were murdered with “stray bullets”. Alexis who is killed in Greece and all
the others are in our conscience. And our conscience does not permit us to
become a part of this crime. Mr. Özdil, power and authorities create
fear. From a psychological view point, fear is a humane feeling. But as you
know “chickening out” is not a humane thing. Thus the fear you are talking
about belongs exclusively to the power and the authorities. Fear is the
system that can not even tolerate a press declaration. Resisting against
this militarization is justified by life.
Life is blossoming against the events caused by the hierarchical,
militarist and domineering rule of the authorities. One of the crimes
that is imposed on me is “coordinating a meeting illegally and dominating the
protestors against the law 2911 on public meetings and marches”. As
Bakunin said, "Every command is a slap on the face of liberty", so as an
anarchist, it is impossible for me to dominate or command anyone. I
believe in the power of the free will of the individual. What the
authorities can not make sense of, and what disturbs them, is the
collective initiative of the free will.
Friends, there had been some minor problems since I arrived here. Most
of them are results of the attempts at psychological intimidation. But I
am doing very well. These walls make me feel that you and thousands of
hearts are here. Although this is not a natural place; the dialectics of the
nature makes adaptation and progress within the current conditions
possible. New inmates arrived to the neighboring cells, however, the
first days were full of silence, there was no one except me. 4-5 days after I
arrived, new inmates came. We are chatting through our windows. Behind
the walls, I accompany the arabesk songs that come from the neighboring
cells with the marches.
On 19th of January, Tuesday, your letters arrived. I read them all,
again and again. I will reply all of them. On Mondays and Wednesdays I can
send letters. I will send them on Monday. I receive the letters on Fridays
and Tuesdays. I knew that the solidarity actions would develop and I have
always felt the warmth of your hearts beside me since I arrived here.
You have adorned the university campuses and the streets. Solidarity actions
have taken place in different cities. I would rather be standing by your
side behind the solidarity stands, but this time it is not the case.
Reading the letters is one of my favorite activities here. I will bewaiting
for your letters. It takes 8-9 days for the letters from Ankara to arrive here.
My letters will arrive there around the same time if there is no problem. I might
have written in a disorderly way, excuse me if I did. You may make the
necessary corrections and release it. (As always, ill-constructed fragments,
spelling mistakes etc.)
From the cell which is brimming with your hearts, I am sending to you
all of my revolutionary and warmest greetings.
See you soon.
Volkan Sevinç
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