The doors are locked, what can you say?
It's a pity we're locked up
Roads are blocked
The city is defeated
Hunger has begun
You're out of weapons, so what can you do?
What's wrong, darkness has fallen
You don't get laid, you don't get laid.
Paul Eluard, who fought as a soldier in the French army in World War I, became a member of the French Communist Party in 1926, and then moved to Spain to fight against the Fascist Dictator Franco's regime, wrote the above lines upon the occupation of Paris by the Nazis during World War II.
Those words, translated into Turkish by Sabahattin Eyüboğlu and composed by Zülfü Livaneli, became an anthem in the language of millions of people who resisted oppression in Turkey for years.
Eluard also became one of the symbols of the struggle against dictators in the world. Like Ezra Pound, he chose not to compromise with them, but to fight them. Both with his pen and his heart and wrist.
Because he had such a great passion for freedom in his heart that no dictator could have restrained his passion.
“In my notebook at school,
Trees to my desk,
I'll write your name.
Read leaves,
On snow-white pages,
I'll write your name...”
He also wrote about his passion for freedom, and this poem was composed by Zülfü Livaneli and gave hope to millions of people struggling for freedom in Turkey for years.
So why did I suddenly think of Paul Eluard?
Those lines rolled off my tongue in the face of the incident that took place in front of the cameras in Esenyurt:
“The gates are locked...”
CHP members started a vigil in the district against the arrest of Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer and the appointment of a trustee in his place.
However, CHP protesters are not allowed into the municipality building. Even elected municipal council members are not allowed into the municipality building.
Because the gates are blocked, under police blockade.
Yesterday, CHP Group Deputy Chairman Ali Mahir Başarır went to Esenyurt Municipality with some deputies.
Riot police prevented the CHP delegation from entering the municipality.
Ali Mahir Basarır then called the Speaker of the Parliament, Numan Kurtulmuş.
In the dialog that took place in front of the cameras, Kurtulmuş was not heard saying what he said, but after a while it became clear that he had given his ‘approval’ for the CHP delegation to be allowed to enter.
In fact, Ali Yerlikaya, the Minister of Interior, was also forced to apply for an entry permit. Apparently, Yerlikaya either did not pick up the phone or responded negatively.
Ali Mahir Başarır was trying to persuade Kurtulmuş by saying that MPs would react against Yerlikaya during the budget talks.
This is what the CHP leadership called “negotiation on the one hand and struggle on the other”.
Activism as far as it is allowed,
As much opposition as possible,
Visit as many times as the doors open.
“The politics of ”I have acquaintances in high places‘ came to an end in Esenyurt in front of a police shield with a "door opened with a phone call to an acquaintance".
What did the poet say?
The city is defeated, what can you say?