Today was a historic day in Turkey. A prominent Turkish-Armenian shot to death united the voices of reason during the funeral procession in Istanbul. The people spoke through their silent march down the streets. Thousands of Muslims, Christians, Turks, Armenians, Kurds, and Greeks attended the walk of pride to show the shameless few loudmouths a thing or two about resolve and reconciliation.
However, the leaders of the country were exempt from this happy gathering. They missed another grand opportunity to show the world how real they are. Instead they chose to remain politicians for the day. Coward politicians hoping to cash in on the 'nationalistic' wave of votes they chose to sell out for. Or even worse they really did not want to be there out of personal ideals too distant for the display of affection. Too hard to explain, too difficult to understand.
I agree with Mehmet Ali Birand (one of Turkey's leading journalists) when he says our leaders failed us today. (Click here to read the article in Turkish.) The President should have been there. The Prime Minister should have been there. The Religious Attaché famous for his recent photo-op with the Pope, and too quick to comment on a holy man's blunder, should have been there. The Chief of the Turkish General Staff should have been there. The Majority Opposition Leader should have been there. The 'so-called' forces of government and 'deep state' representation should have been there. Too bad they weren't there. But too bad for them 'the people' were there. Maybe the tide is turning. Maybe the voices of silence for too long will finally speak and speak loudly. And maybe the politicians will just go away. Go away to the deepest chapters of history that we all skip and intentionally don't bother to explain its ugly existence.
