'Turkey is a big joke, but how much can we laugh at this?'

In front of me is a Court of Cassation decision that begins with "On Behalf of the Turkish Nation," on behalf of all of you.

Throughout the 78 pages, we read that the culprits responsible for what we have been through since 2017, the unfounded allegations, which are not even one sentence true, are now accepted as true by the Court of Cassation judges, and the sentences requested against us are affirmed.

Each line of these pleadings, indictments, reasoned decisions, appellate decisions, and notifications, which would be lessons in law faculties as "do not do these under any circumstances," is now accompanied by a Court of Cassation decision. I am deeply sorry for every level of the Turkish justice system from the lowest court to the highest.

What is happening is not unique to the eight people* who have been subjected to this strange and absurd process since 2017, just as it is not unique to the five people** in Silivri and Bakırköy now.

We are only ordinary examples of detaching from reality, considering lies as truths, and decay.

It's not unique to us. It can happen to anyone, and it will happen to everyone. A tiny example: The five judges of the Court of Cassation who upheld the 18-year sentence against me say the following: "She attended the Garaj Istanbul meeting on June 27, 2013, and this fact is confirmed by physical surveillance records..." In other words, there is evidence, there is a PHOTOGRAPH, they say. For example, if I were to read the case file as an "external observer," I would say there is a photograph, I would say it happened. (Let's say it's a crime to attend a meeting!) Because it never occurred to me that the Court of Cassation would say "yes" to a nonexistent photograph. But, what's the truth? On that date and time, I am in Izmir, on stage at a public meeting about cinema, I am a speaker. These pieces of evidence were presented to the court in the very first trial, but it seems the higher court chose to ignore the facts.

What does the Court of Cassation decision say: "Since it is understood that the conscientious convictions are based on definite, consistent, and non-contradictory evidence, the verdict is affirmed..." In other words, the judges of the Court of Cassation's Third Criminal Chamber found it "definite, consistent, and non-contradictory" that I could be both in Izmir and in İstanbul at the same time. Each line of the 78-page decision is filled with examples like this for five people, five lives.

We are talking about our lives. Human lives. It's not a joke. There's nothing to laugh about. Turkey is a big joke, but how much can we laugh at this joke?

Since Thursday evening, I am very happy for my dear Mücellâ and dear Hakan. But I know that while I am happy for them, they are in deep sorrow and sharp anger.

Let's agree on this: every judge and prosecutor who has been sitting in the position of claim and decision-making since 2017 knows better than me, and they are sure that there is not the slightest crime or evidence in this case.

At this point, I can only wish that the five high judges who signed the unanimous approval decision of the Court of Cassation would not do to anyone else what they did to us on behalf of the "Turkish Nation."

We, with the inner peace of not being involved in any crime, are doing well. As for them, with the signature they put on behalf of the "Turkish Nation," they made a whole country an accomplice to a crime. I leave them alone with their buttonless robes and their consciences.

Coincidentally, at the top of my reading list is Dante's Divine Comedy. You know, the first volume is about Hell. As I write this now, I realize that nothing is a coincidence after all.

Do not lose your hope, there is paradise after purgatory...

*Greetings to Enis Batur***...

October 2, 2023 / Bakırköy Women's Closed Prison

* Mater is referring to the eight people who stood trial in the Gezi case, related to the Gezi Park protests in which millions of people in Turkey participated in June 2013. 

** Mater is referring to the five people whose verdicts have been upheld by the last Court of Cassation decision. 

*** Ahmet Enis Batur is a Turkish poet, writer, and publisher. Since December 2017, he has been serving as the editor-in-chief of the Kirpi poetry magazine, which is published by Kırmızı Kedi Publishing House, and since December 2020, he has also been the editor-in-chief of Simurg Art Publishing House.