At the end of the evening, as the girls hugged each other, I looked at the screen and smiled for a long time.
Sometimes one needs something good about one's country. Something that will make him happy without the need for many words or big sentences...
The Sultans of the Net did it again.
We went back and forth throughout the match against Italy. A point comes and you get hopeful, then the game gets harder again. But when you look at the girls on the field, you don't see anyone giving up. They cover each other's gaps, hold each other's hands when they fall, and get up again.
When the last ball fell, Türkiye was once again the European champion.
I looked at Eda's face, Zehra, Vargas, Gizem, Hande, İlkin...
There is something else in their joy that attracts people. You see a team fighting together and rejoicing in each other's success.
Maybe this is why they make us so happy, before the trophies.
They remind us that anything can be achieved together.
There were children in the stands. Girls shouting with flags in their hands... Maybe tomorrow they will go to a gym and touch a volleyball ball for the first time. Maybe years from now one of them will wear that jersey.
It's nice to even think about it.
The match was over, the cup was lifted, the anthem was sung.
Then a word came to my mind:
Everyone.
We hear this word a lot in recent years.
People's garden.
National library.
People's cafeteria.
Nation mosque…
When you write "nation" somewhere, it seems like that place becomes more valuable.
Let it be.
Let the garden belong to your nation, the library and the mosque.
But people inevitably ask:
If you love the nation so much, shouldn't you accept the result when the nation goes to the polls and makes its decision?
Shouldn't we show the same respect to the person elected by the nation?
This is where Üsküdar comes to my mind.
Üsküdar residents went to the polls. They cast their votes. They elected mayors.
Sinem Dedetaş came out of that ballot box.
The judiciary will determine how the legal process carried out against him today will result. It's not my job to pass judgment on that.
But what I want to say is something else.
There is a mayor elected by the people.
And there is an election result.
Isn't one of the first conditions for what we call democracy to accept that result?
Will we trust the ballot box only when it produces the result we want?
Will it be the "national will" when the nation votes for our candidate, and will it be a community that made the wrong decision when it votes for another candidate?
Impossible.
Because the person who goes to the public garden and the person who goes to the polls on election day are the same person.
The citizen who reads a book in the public library does not turn into someone else when he receives the ballot paper.
The vote of a citizen is valuable when entering the public mosque.
Therefore, doing justice to the word "nation" is not possible only by writing it on signs.
It is also necessary to respect the people's decision.
Actually, there is something very simple that sports teaches us.
You go out onto the field.
The rules are clear from the beginning.
The game is being played.
In the end, one side wins and the other side loses.
You don't dismantle the scoreboard when you lose.
You don't say "I don't like this result" and restart the match.
You acknowledge that your opponent has won.
Then you prepare for the next match.
The essence of democracy is not much different from this.
You enter the election.
The people vote.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
But when the result comes out, you have to respect the people's decision.
Because democracy is not just the name of the elections you win.
Maybe that's why these things came to my mind while watching our girls' European championship.
On the one hand, people all over the country share the same joy...
On the other hand, that word we have been talking about for years:
Everyone.
If the nation is truly valuable, it is valuable not only when applauding, but also when making decisions at the ballot box.
You can write the name of the nation anywhere.
To concrete.
To the sign.
To the entrance of the building.
But the real issue is what you do when the nation makes up its mind.
Do you accept the election result?
Do you respect the people's choice?
It's that simple.
Our girls gave us another cup today.
Maybe it's up to us to do justice to this word:
Everyone.
