Selected text
I don’t remember exactly when the French, the English and the Italian soldiers left after the War of Independence was over [1922] but I remember that we used to speak, read and write in old Turkish [Ottoman Turkish, before the language reform Turkish contained a lot more Arabic and Persian words and it was written by Arabic letters] and then Ataturk [7] passed a law that said we had to use the new alphabet [in 1928 a law was passed in the Turkish parliament of the new Turkish Republic that abolished the old Arabic alphabet and installed the new Latin alphabet for the official language of the country]. Everyone had to learn this new alphabet. I of course, knew this alphabet from school. But they opened schools for grown-ups, and for everyone so they could learn. There were even night schools. Everyone took lessons and everyone learned this new alphabet. I remember a poem from that time on “Brotherhood”:
Durdugumuz bulundugumuz bu sevimli topraklar
Oyleyiz ki baba nedir kardes nedir dinlemeyiz
Eger oglum sen sen isen bunları cigne ez
O duygular hic olmazsa aramıza sokulmasın, kardesligi kovmasın
Elele ver yasadıkca sev, sevil bunu dusun bunu bil
Lakin bizler bir anadan bir babadan yetistik
Onun icin ayrılmayız ne buyuktur kardeslik.
Oyle koksun bahcedeki sıra sıra agaclar
Bora kopar ruzgar eser de onlara
Birbirini korurlar birbirinden ayrılmazlar
Ve kır ciceklerini severek korurlar.
These sweet lands we stand on
Are such that we don’t know what father is, what brother is
My son, go and walk on these lands
Let not enmity come between us, let it not throw our brotherhood away Hand in hand, love as long as you live, be loved and know it, think it
We were raised by one mother and father
That’s why we can’t separate, that’s how great brotherhood is
Let the trees in the garden smell that way
When the storm starts and the wind blows
They protect each other and never separate from one another
And they protect the wild flowers with their love.
Durdugumuz bulundugumuz bu sevimli topraklar
Oyleyiz ki baba nedir kardes nedir dinlemeyiz
Eger oglum sen sen isen bunları cigne ez
O duygular hic olmazsa aramıza sokulmasın, kardesligi kovmasın
Elele ver yasadıkca sev, sevil bunu dusun bunu bil
Lakin bizler bir anadan bir babadan yetistik
Onun icin ayrılmayız ne buyuktur kardeslik.
Oyle koksun bahcedeki sıra sıra agaclar
Bora kopar ruzgar eser de onlara
Birbirini korurlar birbirinden ayrılmazlar
Ve kır ciceklerini severek korurlar.
These sweet lands we stand on
Are such that we don’t know what father is, what brother is
My son, go and walk on these lands
Let not enmity come between us, let it not throw our brotherhood away Hand in hand, love as long as you live, be loved and know it, think it
We were raised by one mother and father
That’s why we can’t separate, that’s how great brotherhood is
Let the trees in the garden smell that way
When the storm starts and the wind blows
They protect each other and never separate from one another
And they protect the wild flowers with their love.
Period
Year
1928
Location
/İstanbul
Türkiye
Interview
Izak Sarhon