What is it that Makes Turkish A Language of Love?
It was a large hall. It was when the first teachers began to depart for their schools abroad. The teacher whose name was read stood up and waited.
A hand was extended, saying, "In the name of God," as they took a piece of paper out of the drawing lot and tried to read the name of the school and the city where it was located. Since the school's name was foreign, the person drawing the lot found it difficult to read. But the young teacher standing nearby stepped in and read aloud the name of the school. Then, all eyes turned to him, expecting an explanation of how he could know how to pronounce it beforehand. Sheepishly, he said, "I saw it in my dream."
The seventh edition of the Turkish Language Olympiads are now conquering the hearts of people. Eight-hundred young people aged between 12 and 17 are coming to our country from 115 countries, singing our songs and reading our poems.
What is this event that has turned Turkish into a language of love and that brings together children from all over the world in our country despite the polarization within each one of us and despite the fact that we are wasting our time and energy with our self-induced troubles and tensions? Is this a dream?
No, what we see is a legend. Actually, legends are written down and read years after what inspired them had happened. But, we are already inside an ongoing legend. This is our legend. This is our legend of reaching out to universal human values by firmly holding on to our own values.
I do not intend to engage in heroic talk. Already all legends are heroic. Yet, there is a reality. For about two centuries, we have been hearing that nothing can become of us Turks and there is no way that we can recover from this state we are in. We have been told that there is no choice other than assimilating with other nations or being like them. There are still ― yes, now ― people who would rush to the US or Europe in order to tell the officials there, "Don't think too highly of Turkey. They can't achieve anything." The Turkish Language Olympiads are the biggest slap in their faces.
There is a mastermind behind this legend. When the Soviet Union collapsed, he had said in a sermon in the Süleymaniye Mosque: "We have a debt of loyalty to our ancestral homeland, Turkistan. Today is the day when we have to repay it. If you go there today, you'll find people waiting for you. But if you are late, you will find it hard to enter there even with a visa." This man with far-reaching horizons was speaking with tears in his eyes. Those who lent an ear to him understood him. What he said sounded reasonable to them. They felt enthusiastic and they entered a sacrificial mode, ready to act at any moment. The look in their eyes, which was asking for a direction, finally found their way. They first went to Turkic republics and then turned their eyes to all countries, thinking, "If all human beings are precious, then we should come together over universal human values." They even went to some countries that you would find difficult to locate on the map.
This is a heroic legend. A giant workforce for education with teachers, trainers and executives and altruistic businessmen supporting them...
Today, I would like to talk about them. Each one of them has a unique legendary story. Each of them can be likened to young heroes of Çanakkale war. They were accompanied by their spouses in this venture of rough trials. Some of them went abroad just two days after they were married. When their elders asked, "When will you return?" they replied, “We did not come here so that we could return.” Some of them were buried in the school garden or under a tree as they bequeathed. Those who saw them first said to them: "Where have you come from? Are there still people like you?"
The world has not experienced such a lofty legend. This is the legend by a self-styled movement acting only for the sake of securing God's satisfaction. This is the legend presented by the world's children as a gift to the man of elated goals, who said that if Turkey wishes to have a place it deserves in the international arena, it should be everywhere around the globe. They say to him: "There may be people who do not understand you, but we are here and we have brought the most beautiful flowers of the world. We are the most innocent witnesses who have understood you the best. All the saplings you have planted are producing fruits. You have been seeking a world of peace. Here we are, the generation of that peace. We have become sisters and brothers at these young ages. We are now cooperating to establish the world you have imagined. Now that we have come, please stop crying..."
Hail to the heroes of love that have made Turkish a world language, and that have unified hearts with love, and that have reminded us of compassion, goodness and peace amid the mundane affairs...
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