Death... Cold, real and inevitable. Some are timeless... The final point for the person... What about those he left behind? We bid farewell to Şükran Soner (our Şükos), who entered the garden gate of the newspaper every day with her backpack full of books and newspapers and her endless energy, this time with a coffin wrapped in the Turkish flag, through the same gate. With complex emotions as well as pain and sadness. Let me try to explain.
Is there any other person who is so identified with and so intertwined with the Republic to which he devoted 60 years of his 80-year life? I don't think so. Is there anyone else who has devoted himself to his newspaper so sincerely, without calculation or self-interest? You know it's always been there and will be there forever, but suddenly it slips through your fingers. This was the first feeling I felt when I received the news of Şükran's death. The Republic was also injured, and so was I. When I first started working at Cumhuriyet 32 years ago, she was "Şükran Hanım" for me. I admired his journalism, which he continued without compromising his principles, despite coups and crises, in a difficult field such as labor and workers' rights; As we got to know each other and our conversations got deeper, she became "Sister Şükran". His modesty, helpfulness and energy radiated from the newspaper's old building in Babıali. He was always with us. We would know.
The building in Şişli was still closed, we retired to our rooms. Communication had weakened, but sister Şükran was always there whenever needed. We would know. So what does it mean to know?
There is a very nice saying in English: “Taken for granted” Unfortunately, there is no exact Turkish equivalent: We accept someone's existence as normal so much that we think that they will always exist, and sometimes we even begin to not realize the value of that person anymore. This was part of the lump that felt in my heart as I bid farewell to eternity through the garden gate of the newspaper. We are always running somewhere and something; In a period where we are rapidly consuming "time" along with everything else, have we fully assimilated the value of the characteristics that make Thanksgiving Thanksgiving? For example, never have an ego; To exist without putting oneself first, without saying "I"... Because isn't ego a bit of a person putting himself at the center of the world? Expecting what you do to be seen, what you say to be heard, and for your value to be continually delivered by others. An invisible inner calculation that starts with "I did it, I said it, it's my right, my success..."
However, there wasn't much of an "I" in Şükran. More precisely, of course he had a strong personality, stubbornly defended thoughts and fights, but he was not at the center of them. There was an issue, there was an injustice, there was a worker, a woman, a person whose rights were violated; There was a republic. He cared about his problems, not himself. Maybe this is what true modesty is: not feeling the need to constantly exalt yourself.
What a difficult feature this is in today's world. We live in the age of “I”. We tell and show ourselves; We show off our achievements, we want to be seen, admired, approved. Social media undoubtedly fuels this, but the issue is not just social media. In business life, politics, journalism; More and more people are looking for the visibility that their work will bring to them, rather than the work they do. Working quietly, paving the way for others, and not expecting immediate reward are almost like virtues from ancient times.
Şükran was a person from another world. Maybe this was one of the reasons for the feeling of incompleteness that grew inside me as I bid him farewell to eternity: Because I bid farewell not only to a person whom I loved very much, but also to a state of humanity that he represented.
