Letter From anarchist prisoner

greece / turkey / cyprus | imperialism / war | opinion / analysis Friday February 12, 2010 18:04 by Volkan Sevinç

Volkan Sevinç

The guards have brought your letters when I was in the open-air-area. The guard gave the letters which are full of love and comrades’ salutes. “There are so many letters that our eyes hurt when reading them all.” he said jokingly. I said, “I am a political prisoner, it seems like you will get tired of the letters I receive.”

Dear friends, comrades

The guards have brought your letters when I was in the open-air-area. The guard gave the letters which are full of love and comrades’ salutes. “There are so many letters that our eyes hurt when reading them all.” he said jokingly. I said, “I am a political prisoner, it seems like you will get tired of the letters I receive.”

Friends, they keep me in a cell in L type prison. When I arrived I indicated that I was a political prisoner. The head of the prison rightly (!) said that it would be wrong to keep me in a ward. Then they put me in a one-person cell. I said that it did not matter to me, and I will make the necessary applications to be transferred to the F type prison. Neither the head of the prison, nor the guards or prisoners I met from other cells and at the open-air space could understand why they brought me to the L type prison. In fact, after it was finalized that I was going to be imprisoned - outside the court hall when you were waiting at one end and I was waiting at the other - I told my lawyer that I was going to be imprisoned with the ‘criminal prisoners’ and I would object to that. At the court, the offenses of “Changing the evidences according to the law numbered 100/2 in the Code of Criminal Procedure, attending a meeting and coordinating it illegally against the law 2911 on public meetings and marches, insulting the officer on duty” were tried to be imposed on me. These definitions correspond to the attack and the battering we were exposed to, that day! On, Wednesday 6th of January, on Yüksel Street in Ankara, a lynch attempt similar to the ones in Edirne, Erzincan, Manisa/Selendi and İzmir has taken place during the press declaration that was organized to raise solidarity with the conscientious objector Enver Aydemir. During the press declaration, we experienced altogether a repeated lynch attempt.

The events were witnessed by the public. Yüksel Street is a location where a number of press declarations are made everyday. That day, we witnessed that the lynch campaign that is tried to be seeded in these lands is taken a step further. In order to justify their attack, they try to cancel the will power that is being attacked. The massacres and lynches are tried to be normalized in this territory. At the Sivas, Çorum, Maraş, Gazi and 19th of December massacres, oppositional voices are tried to be suppressed with the words “citizen’s sensitivity” and “the officers performed their duties”. Militarism is tried to be normalized. I am writing this letter on 19th of January: The third anniversary of Hrant Dink’s murder.

Shall we call this the irony of the history? Yesterday (18th of January) was the day Abdi İpekçi’s murderer Ağca was released! A “mysterious” hit man “full of secrets” is tried to be heroized through the intense interest of the media. This reputable (!) person said that he does not want to do his military service because of “religious and philosophical” reasons. We are talking about Ağca who was sneaked out of prison in a military uniform… Oh my! Ağca who was given an anti-social personality report is “misunderstood” and after this declaration probably he is issued the necessary reports to over come the complications. Let’s see what kind of ways the Messiah we were expecting will start looking for in order to receive the 3 million dollars bail?

By taking advantage of this situation, a columnist in Hürriyet newspaper, Yılmaz Özdil wrote an article titled “Conscientious Objection” on 19th of January. He says “The ones who want to get away from military service can not say that they chicken out, instead they talk about conscientious objection”. With a brazen attitude, Mr. Özdil gave utterance to the declarations of the “mysterious” hit-man while sitting on his comfortable chair. Maybe your chair is too low Mr. Özdil? It is hard for your aristocratic “conscience” to get the stance of the conscientious objectors’ struggle in this geography which is carried out since 1989. Murat Ülke, Mehmet Bal, Mehmet Tarhan and Halil Savda, who declared that they will not take orders from any power or authority, were tortured. And conscientious objector Enver Aydemir, who is exposed to several punishments, is still imprisoned in Eskişehir Prison.

More than 50 thousand people died on these lands in 20 years because of war. Global lords are seizing lives of people all around world; in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. They want us to become a part of the destroyed lives. The authorities, who are responsible of the events which cause the death of 66 people every minute around the world, will not be able to seize our consciences and our lives; they will not be able to keep them under captivity. Özdil keeps on writing “there are enough people in this country with conscience!” … Yes, more than you could ever imagine! Uğur Kaymaz, Ceylan; Çağdaş Gemlik and Murat Kasap who were murdered with “stray bullets”. Alexis who is killed in Greece and all the others are in our conscience. And our conscience does not permit us to become a part of this crime. Mr. Özdil, power and authorities create fear. From a psychological view point, fear is a humane feeling. But as you know “chickening out” is not a humane thing. Thus the fear you are talking about belongs exclusively to the power and the authorities. Fear is the system that can not even tolerate a press declaration. Resisting against this militarization is justified by life. Life is blossoming against the events caused by the hierarchical, militarist and domineering rule of the authorities. One of the crimes that is imposed on me is “coordinating a meeting illegally and dominating the protestors against the law 2911 on public meetings and marches”. As Bakunin said, "Every command is a slap on the face of liberty", so as an anarchist, it is impossible for me to dominate or command anyone. I believe in the power of the free will of the individual. What the authorities can not make sense of, and what disturbs them, is the collective initiative of the free will.

Friends, there had been some minor problems since I arrived here. Most of them are results of the attempts at psychological intimidation. But I am doing very well. These walls make me feel that you and thousands of hearts are here. Although this is not a natural place; the dialectics of the nature makes adaptation and progress within the current conditions possible. New inmates arrived to the neighboring cells, however, the first days were full of silence, there was no one except me. 4-5 days after I arrived, new inmates came. We are chatting through our windows. Behind the walls, I accompany the arabesk songs that come from the neighboring cells with the marches.

On 19th of January, Tuesday, your letters arrived. I read them all, again and again. I will reply all of them. On Mondays and Wednesdays I can send letters. I will send them on Monday. I receive the letters on Fridays and Tuesdays. I knew that the solidarity actions would develop and I have always felt the warmth of your hearts beside me since I arrived here. You have adorned the university campuses and the streets. Solidarity actions have taken place in different cities. I would rather be standing by your side behind the solidarity stands, but this time it is not the case.

Reading the letters is one of my favorite activities here. I will be waiting for your letters. It takes 8-9 days for the letters from Ankara to arrive here. My letters will arrive there around the same time if there is no problem. I might have written in a disorderly way, excuse me if I did. You may make the necessary corrections and release it. (As always, ill-constructed fragments, spelling mistakes etc.) From the cell which is brimming with your hearts, I am sending to you all of my revolutionary and warmest greetings.

See you soon.

Volkan Sevinç

Note: To get information about the court case history and future news you can check the website www.ahaligazetesi.org, an anarchist journal mostly prepared in ankara. For this casei informations available on languages: Turkish, English, Deutsch, Castellano, French. Poetric fire to the prisons; industrial complex!