You know the Oscar-winning movie Braveheart.
It is not defeat that devastates William Wallace; it is betrayal. When he removes the helmet of the enemy he knocked off his horse on the battlefield and sees that it is the Scottish king he fought for, he collapses. That facial expression is not the expression of a lost battle, but of a loyalty unraveled by betrayal, of a faith destroyed from within.
On the one hand, there are people who are ready to give up their lives for the sake of freedom, for the values they stand for. On the other hand, there are “nobles” who are bought for the sake of office, land and wealth.
Wallace comes to terms with those who betrayed him. But the movie does not end with a triumph that comforts the viewer. He is captured, tortured and executed. The one word he shouts with his last breath as he dies is engraved in the heart of the movie: Freedom!
The quote “Everyone dies, but not everyone lives” in the movie reminds us that living is not just breathing.
Life is meaningful if you have values to live for.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's statement “Independence is my character” is not a political slogan; it is a description of existence. Atatürk, too, was a brave heart; he did not defend freedom according to circumstances, but considered it part of his character no matter what the cost.
Our history is full of such thresholds. In 1919, the Istanbul government was not satisfied with dismissing Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; it sent a clear order to Kazım Karabekir, the commander of the most powerful military units in Eastern Anatolia: Mustafa Kemal Pasha was to be arrested. Had that order been carried out, everything would have been over, the War of Independence would have ended before it even began, and history would have taken a different course. It would have been easy for Karabekir to back down; his rank would have been protected, his life would have been guaranteed. But he stood up to Atatürk and said ’My corps and I are at your command“. The decision made that day was not a military choice; it was a line of morality, the manifestation of a brave stance.
There are brave hearts in politics too. In 1974, when Bülent Ecevit saw that the constitutional order in Cyprus was collapsing and the Turkish community was under direct threat, he did not back down, knowing the international pressure and the risk of a heavy embargo. Because if he had not intervened that day, the issue would have been lost, not postponed. Sometimes the responsibility is not to calm the crisis, but to stand in the right place at all costs.
Today, the main distinction in politics is not between power and opposition, but between those who save the day and those who take risks for tomorrow. The wisdom of the state is not to not take risks, but to be aware of the risk and do what is necessary.
Freedom is too vital a value to be left to the courage of individual people.
The Republic took independence as a foundation and secured freedom through secularism, the rule of law, equal citizenship, reason and science. As long as these values survive, so does freedom.
Therefore, to protect it is not only to defend it, but also to be willing to do what is necessary.