The anatomy of the death on a plastic chair

I am disgusted: Deputy Police Chief Mustafa Kabakci died in severe pain in solitary confinement of a terrible Turkish jail! The evidence for accusations against him was sending 5 TL (63 cents) to a relief agency which was many years ago.

I am disgusted: I might have talked about the AKP party, the deep state, the oppressive regime, polarized and disarrayed politics and so on. But I will not do that. Because the killer of the police officer Mustafa is the society as a whole! This was a joint murder, a multi-partnered, homicide, a mass lynching, and a type of collective capital punishment!

I am disgusted: Blacklisting of Mustafa was a problem and being dismissed from the security organization was another. The criminal case initiated against him was a part of this story, and so-called evidence the case was based on was another! Yes, he was in jail unjustly but what about tragical conditions! He became ill in this jail, on top of it he was not let to visit the doctor and left for dead knowingly and willfully! His death was a tragedy but blanketing the cause of death aggravated this! Refusal of his petitions was a shame but officers making up false petitions to make it look like if he had been refusing the treatment is shamelessness! But the most important problem is: The state is the murderer, and the society turns a blind eye to this!

I am disgusted: Plastic, everything is plastic. Concrete, everything is concrete! Dirty walls, a worthless mirror, a makeshift table. A small heater core. Toilet papers, plastic bottles scattered all over the strange, niffy, maybe ten years old wall to wall carpet. A wall without plaster. They are the only witnesses of this tyranny, torture, and cruel treatment!   

I am disgusted: There is a white plastic armchair heading towards the door! It is a kind of stuff you can see in cafes on alleyways or cheap Turkish ravioli restaurants! Police officer Mustafa seems like napping in front of a television screen! You think that he would jump up if his neck were not leaned to the back in that way. He would be shy and say “Sorry, I felt asleep”! His hands are on the legs! There are sandals on his feet. As if he is not dead, but he just came back from a walk! His face is blurred in this fearsome frame that I cannot keep my eyes. Who can tell why? Are his eyes open? Did blood come from his mouth? Is his tongue out of his mouth? Is there a bruise or beating mark? We cannot know. A couple of years ago, he was a promising deputy police chief working for you to have a good sleep in your bed. Now no one mentions him, but his family.

I am disgusted: After all he was not “an important person” like these trickster clowns that minister and their undersecretaries shield themselves for getting bribes. Did Mustafa also shout, “We would not be police officer if we were scared from thieves!”? Maybe donation of 5 Turkish liras was the accusation but of course, the real reason to jail and leave to death cannot be that! Maybe he was tagged as “FETO member” or “traitor”. What did his relatives, neighbors, friends, or comrades say? Did anybody support him? Or did they kick him when he was already down? Did police officer Mustafa and his family experience this deathlike disappointment in a corrupt society that attacking the powerless is usual. Did teachers point their finger and tagg “child of the traitor!” before their classmates? Were they refused from the parliament of the nation, from having social security, benefits, or health services? The dead body on the plastic chair can no longer tell his tragedy!

I am disgusted: Who can know the dreams of Mustafa? He became deputy chief at a young age for serving his country, fighting with criminals and crimes and maybe being appreciated that he already deserved. He would not become a police officer if he were money minded.  Could he afford to buy a family house? Or were they tenants just like most of the civil servants. How could they pay their rent after Mustafa lost his job? Did his wife have a job? What did his family do when Mustafa was jailed? Was he thinking about his family all the time? Surely, this situation was far from his dreams. What does an idealist police officer think about the country, society, and the state he lives in if he was the target of such a treatment? What will his children think and feel about him when they grew up? Will they be under psychological pressure with the fabricated stories about their father? Did Mustafa think about these before his last breath in this solitary jail?

I am disgusted: They put him into the grave without showing the one tenth of the mercy that is showed stray dogs or cats! He is just another number to be added to the victims of human rights violations. This is an ordinary event for them because everybody turns their head away from this purge. And they can write things beginning with “Regardless of what crime he committed…” What he committed was sending a donation of 5 liras! This is Turkey! That dirty walls, that worthless mirror, that makeshift table. Those toilet papers and plastic bottles scattered all over the strange, niffy, maybe ten years old wall to wall carpet represent Turkey. The faint colored wall without plaster is Turkey. Everybody is both the perpetrator and witness of a huge tyranny, a torture, an execution, a cruel treatment! It is the Turkey that is abandoned lying on that plastic chair with a cold body! This is not a country but terrible and wrecked jail cell! Blast you!

I am disgusted!

Prof. Mehmet Efe Caman is a scholar of political science (particularly of international relations). He is also a human rights activist, a liberal democrat and a columnist. He writes in Turkish, English and German.
Dr. Caman is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science of the Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), Canada.

from Politurco.com| Informs and Inspires by Facts and Analyses http://www.politurco.com/the-anatomy-of-the-death-on-a-plastic-chair.html