ÖZEL HABER

Back to this matter of how the Turkish tribes, pouring in over Azerbaycan in the 11th century, might have come to talk admiringly among themselves of “ana+dolu,” a land full of mothers, giving rise to the word “Anadolu.”

From that evening table, the famous “sofra” of Kemalist lore and legend, a virtual hysteria rose and spread to the rest of the elite. Such spasms have marked many hyper-nationalist dictatorial cultures. The time, too, was auspicious: Fascism and Nazism were on the rise; Mussolini had already come to power in 1922, and Hitler was about to do so in 1933. Trolls flourished, and some unbelievable etymologies were concocted, all the way to Ancient Greek gods and goddesses.

How far can fanaticism go? To what extent can unquestioning devotion to a cause take over and command a degree of ruthless, pitiless, remorseless, unfeeling, unreasoning cruelty that lies beyond the pale of what we normally consider as human behavior, and which therefore we still cannot find the proper words to describe?

And then there were new ideologies of mass murder, of superior and inferior races (or subhumans), which had been missing from WWI. They led to savage treatment of civilians under both Axis and Soviet occupation. They led to camp systems. They also led to the Holocaust.

I haven’t been able to contribute to Serbestiyet since 24th January. It was a combination of several things. Too tired. Too busy. Looking for fresh ideas.