It was 11 April’s morning, I read this news from Aksam Newspaper , which I work as a foreing editor, Although Aksam is the paper I am working for and has never doubted about it”s news, sudddenly I switched on tv and zapped the tv channels to find a news that could disprove this news. Sadly my hopeless zapping did not long too much and SKYTURK announced the confirming statement of Gebze Police Chief . Then, I heard other editors who have just heard the news and I can coherently say that maybe it was the first moment all Aksam Newspaper editors were feeling same and were all in an hard situation to describe their condemnation against this brutality so shameful.

So what was the point which was making us feel so shameful at the same time? And Was it the first brutality news against a woman in Turkey? Certainly it wasn’t the first, several times before we read and wrote brutal crimes agaist women, but this time there was something different making us feel more ashamed. This time the victim was a foreign woman, Throughout centuries “hospitality” has been the unique word describing character of people living in Anatolia, also we have been known with our hospitality against our enemies. In 1916, the great leader and founder of Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal’s wrote a letter for foreign soldiers killed while fighting to invade our country “The heroes shed their blood and lost their lives…You are lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace, there is no diffirence between the Johnnies and the Mehmet’s to us where they lie side by side here in this country of our. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far a way countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying on this land they have become our sons as well”, his letter to foreign soldiers mother was most importan point describing Anatolian’s hospitality.

Özcan TİKİT