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Letter to My Beloved
By Rakel Dink, Translated by Fatma
Muge Gocek
Read Jan. 23 in front of her husband’s coffin in Osmanbey
Istanbul. Other transcripts of her eulogy exist, yet have
removed all religious references. Below is the most accurate
transcript, taken from the Bianet news site and translated
by Fatma Muge Gocek.
“I was chosen to be the spouse of my chutak [violin]. I am
here today full of immense grief and dignity. My children,
my family, you and I are very mournful. This silent love
bestows upon us some fortitude. It enables us to experience
within us a sorrowful contentment. In the Bible Johannah
15:13, it is stated that there is no greater love than
people giving up their life for the sake of their friends.
My dear friends, today we send off half of my soul, my
beloved, the father of my children and your brother. We are
going to actualize a march without any slogans and without
showing any disrespect to those around us. Today we are
going to generate immense sound through our silence.
Today is the beginning of the day when the [darkness of the]
gorges rise into brightness.
Whoever the assassin may be, whatever his age may be, either
17 or 27, I know that he was once upon a time a baby. My
brothers and sisters, one cannot accomplish anything without
first questioning the darkness that creates an assassin from
such a baby...
My brothers and sisters, it was Hrant’s love for honesty,
for transparency, for his friends that brought him here. His
love that challenged fear made him great. They say “He was a
great man.” I ask you, “Was he born great?” No! He too was
born just like us. He did not come from the heavens; he too
was [created] from earth. A body that rots just like ours!
But what made him great was his living spirit, his deeds,
his style, and the love in his eyes and his heart. It was
what he did, the style he chose, the love in his heart that
made him great.
A person does not become great naturally; it is through his
deeds that he becomes great… Yes, he became great because he
thought great things and pronounced great words. You, too,
all thought great things by coming here. You talked great
through your silence; you, too, are great.
But do not let this suffice. Do not be content with this
much alone.
He marked the birth of a new era in Turkey today and you
have all been his seal. With him changed the headlines,
dialogues and bans. For him, there were no taboos or
forbidden topics. As it is stated in the Scriptures, it all
sprung from his heart. He paid a great price. Futures for
which great prices are paid can only be accomplished through
loving Hrants, believing in Hrants—not with hatred, insults,
by holding one blood superior to another. This rise is only
possible if one sees and respects the other as oneself, if
one assumes to be the other.
They separated him from the heaven of his home he had
created with the help of Jesus. They made him spread his
wings to the eternal celestial heavens. They made him spread
his wings to the celestial heavens before his eyes tired
out, before his body had the chance to age, before he could
become sick, before he could spend enough times with his
loved ones.
We too shall come, my beloved. We too shall come to that
matchless heaven. Love and love alone enters there. Love and
love alone that is superior to the speech of humans and
angels, to prophecy, to mastery of all the mysteries, to
faith that moves mountains, to almsgiving one possesses,
even to giving up one’s body to flames—[only that love] will
enter that heaven. There, we shall live together forever in
true love. A love that is not jealous of anyone, a love that
does not covet the property of anyone else, a love that does
not murder anyone, a love that does not belittle anyone, a
love that holds one’s brother and sister more dear than
oneself, a love that abandons one’s own allocation, a love
that demands the rights of one’s brother and sister. A love
that is found in the Messiah. And a love that has been
poured onto us.
Who could forget what you have done, what you have said, my
beloved? Which darkness could erase them? Who could have
what has happened and what is happening forgotten? Could
fear have them forgotten? Could life? Could injustice? Could
the temptations of the world? Or could death have them
forgotten, my beloved? No, no darkness is capable of having
them forgotten, my beloved.
I, too, wrote you a love letter, my beloved. Its cost was
dear to me, too, my beloved. I owe it to Jesus that I was
capable of penning this, my beloved. Let us give His due to
Him, my beloved. Let us give back everyone their due, my
beloved.
You departed from those you loved. You departed from your
children, your grandchildren. You departed from those hear
who came to send you off. You departed from my embrace. You
did not depart from your country."
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