My dear Thanksgiving,
Yesterday morning, you should have seen all the Republic lovers, labor enthusiasts, those who believe in organized struggle embracing each other with you and through you, first in the garden of Cumhuriyet newspaper, then in the courtyard of Şişli Mosque. You don't know how much we miss you already. Or you know, and after a while you will call us and console us by saying, "Don't worry." Because you had such a nature. Your “gratitude, sisterhood” came from this nature, never from your age.
Everyone who spoke yesterday listed all your characteristics: Your morality, honesty, ethical stance, diligence, being the voice of labor and the working class, your belief in organization, your advocacy of human rights, your leadership in the union struggle, being the memory of our newspaper, your guidance to young people, your humility... All of them are the truth. Those two amazing sentences of Your Son Revolution were a call for all of us!
“There is something I feel sorry for,” he said. "My mother could not die in a democratic country. But if we manage to live in this country, in a freer, more democratic country, the efforts of my mother and people like her will gain meaning."
Here, my dear Şükran, these sentences were a call to all the people who embraced you yesterday to continue our struggle in line with the principles you defend.
***
What remains are striking memories, anecdotes and photographs. Here are a few:
The year is 1968. Autumn. Universities are standing. The fire of 68 youth in the world had spread to Beyazıt Square. The stones of the March 12 coup are being laid. I met Şükran Soner while watching student events. He is a reporter at Cumhuriyet, I am a reporter at Milliyet. We bond from the first moment. We are 22 years old.
September 12, 80 fascist coup passed over the country like a roller. Many of our friends, artists and writers are in prison. We are watching each other with Şükran to get the front row reserved for the press at the hearings of the Peace Association case. We are in our 30s.
Year 2001 - We are a group of female journalists traveling to Diyarbakır and Batman upon the call of Pınar Selek. We seek to create “women's solidarity for peace”. We are aware that the issue of peace is too important to be left to men. We are in our 50s.
Those who responded to Pınar Selek's call and participated are as follows: Şükran Soner, Duygu Asena, Zeynep Atikkan, Zeynep Avcı, Nilgün Cerrahoğlu, Yaşar Seyman and Saynur Varışlı... We went, hugged, discussed, listened to each other. We will all write down our impressions on our return.
But something happened in the meantime, three of us were fired from Milliyet: Duygu, Nilgün and me. While we were wandering around confused, Şükran immediately intervened. "Girls, don't worry. I talked to Cumhuriyet, you also write your impressions to Cumhuriyet, all of your comments will be published," he said. Of course we were very happy. And so it was. We settled on pages 8 and 9, facing each other, in the middle of Cumhuriyet dated March 20, 2001.
After 2001, the joy of strengthening our friendship was added to the honor of working with Şükran in the same newspaper, Cumhuriyet.
Yesterday, after the ceremony, I went down to the archives and looked at those pages again and read them. The most magnificent one was of course Şükran's writing. And there was a self-criticism: "Only a handful of female journalists-writers went to Diyarbakır, and we were welcomed with extraordinary love, carnations and shouts. These undeserved displays of love hurt people. They crush and embarrass people," she said. She ended her article with an almost challenging question: "Wasn't it too late for this union of women?"
***
My dear Şükran, there are hundreds of other memories, photographs and stories in our world of memories. Maybe one day someone will bring it all together. Today, I would also like to thank you for your contributions to women's issues and the struggle for peace.
And... And also... Just for the person you are.
