I met him years ago at the Bezciyan Association in Kumkapı.
AKA Sarkis the Communist... aka Sarkis Cerkezian.
Master Sarkis was not just a craftsman; he was one of the people who carried the memory of this land on his back. When he said in one of our conversations that he was “the remnant of a sword”, I couldn't quite understand what he meant. I asked him.
His answer was short but weighty:
“Son, they didn't have the power to put your grandfather to the sword, so you are alive.”
At the time, I did not realize how deep a historical burden this statement carried.
Today, the same expression is used by a journalist as an insult against Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. And this is right after April 24th...
This is exactly where we need to pause and think.
There is a gulf between an expression used to express one's own identity, one's own historical trauma, and the same expression used to insult someone else. In Master Sarkis' words there was pain, irony and history. In the language used today, on the other hand, there is anger, ignorance and an inability to confront.
“The expression ”sword residue" refers to a dark period in this geography. To use it unknowingly is ignorance; to use it knowingly is an indication of a much more serious problem.
What is even more thought-provoking is that this language can find a place in a newspaper that calls itself “Cumhuriyet”. Republic is not only the name of a regime; it is also a matter of mentality. It must be founded on equal citizenship, common memory and empathy.
But we see that despite all the years that have passed, there is still an understanding that denigrates the “other”, denies the pain of the past and uses language as a weapon.
The Republic may have been established.
But becoming a society is still an unfinished business.
And perhaps that is why that sentence of Master Sarkis still echoes in our ears.