Violence

A women attending an April 23 National Sovereignty and Childrens Day ceremony to watch her son perform was stabbed to death by her estranged husband outside of the school where the ceremony was taking place. After the murder, it was discovered that the same man had threatened her with death and was taken to the police station and appeared in the court; however, he was released. It is a shame! In Kemalpaa, Izmir, a man stabbed his ex-wife numerous times because of irreconcilable differences. The brutal images taken after the attack were published in the media. In his initial statement, the man said he did not regret his actions. On International Womens Day, where bright speeches were made on the protection of women, a man raided Kurtky Medical Center in Pendik where he killed a young lady waiting in a hallway. The reason was irreconcilable differences again; yet another murder The issue is not limited to familial disputes. A 17-year old young man killed Dr. Ersin Arslan after the death of his 85-year old grandfather who had cancer. Arslan was stabbed in the heart, after which the attacker held him hostage. The doctors colleagues were unable to save him. While the shock associated with the murder of the doctor by a 17-year old was still fresh, another incident of violence took place in Van and this time at the hands of a parliamentarian. BDP Van Deputy zdal er hit a doctor and cursed at him. And when the Health Minister Recep Akda questioned him, he said he would do it again. Is it acceptable that this arrogant man who should have apologized enjoys a shield of immunity? The father of a student in Sakarya went to the school to defend his child; he brutalized the teacher of religious studies and ethics in front of the students during a ceremony. And there is also ideological violence. Fem Private Course House (FEM) has been successful in providing education in an underdeveloped county like Cizre, in fact a student of the house ranked first in the province of rnak in the national entrance exam. This is not its first success FEMs successes continue year after year. A terrorist, disguised in a chador, attacked the FEM building with a Kalashnikov. And it was argued that his attack represented his struggle on behalf of the Kurdish people. The incidents of violence covered by the media constitute only the tip of the iceberg. The attitude of the media in presenting these incidents is also part of the problem. The bitter truth is that we are struggling with a lack of love and respect, which has taken the whole of society hostage. The values that have kept our social integrity alive and well have been denigrated for decades. We are now paying the bill for the alternative lifestyle that has been promoted. Notions like mercy, passion, loyalty and justice have been taken out of life to be sacrificed for another lifestyle. The numbers of people who view human rights as rights recognized by Allah, view themselves as responsible to their neighbors, their city and to the universe has been declining. The whole situation is exacerbated by lack of identity, unemployment, unease and dissatisfaction as a result, we see that the society is moving towards a state of total frenzy.

This is not a good sign. We need to re-explore ourselves, hear the voice of our soul, create an environment that would promote mercy and passion and renew our faith that human beings are the most honorable creature in the universe. And the media should redirect its focus on the human being. It is now inevitable to reconsider a number of issues including TV series and page 3 photos that were based on the recognition of the weaknesses of the human being. Otherwise, this rising violence will affect even those who sided with violence out of cultural opposition.

Great danger awaiting Europe

This means that world wars have not been lessons to Europe. They have failed to draw lessons out of the death of millions of people. You see that racism is becoming popular. Europe is moving towards a new style of fascism. Fascism was focused on Jews in the past, now the target is Muslims. In the past, people of Jewish descent were the main source of evil, now the danger and main threat is the Muslim immigrants who left their homeland a few generations ago. The rising racist movement is displaying acts of opposition and antagonism to Islam in different forms. On the other hand, it also does not ignore opposition to the European Union where the Western values have taken concrete form. As properly diagnosed and identified by our Paris correspondent Emre Demir in the headline of Zaman Daily on Saturday, the fascists of the time do not make direct racist statements or remarks. Instead, they present themselves as opponents to the Islamisation of European values. These sneaky groups, which align themselves with Israel after their decision to no longer be opposed to Judaism are attracting the people to their side through themes like Islamophobia and xenophobia. The economic crisis in Europe is already fostering an atmosphere of racism. In such difficult times, arguments like they have stolen our bread will suffice to convince the people. The question, why should we share our bread with these barbarian people? may appeal to the hearts of the people who are experiencing economic difficulties. In almost all of Europe, political parties that rely on racist discourse in their election campaigns have won landslide victories, more recently, they have become successful in France and the Netherlands. The result of this could be grave. Could the Western values, outcome of painful experiences, stop this tendency? It is a tough question. If the populist approaches of leaders with no vision remain, it will be inevitable that racism will become stronger. The spread of global crisis will expand into the same dangerous sphere as Europe. Wise and responsible men should realize this danger and intellectuals, media and politicians should spend effort to address this danger so that Europe will not suffer from the outcomes of a great sin and mistake out of an illogical venture. For those who do not believe this, the murder of people in the heart of Norway by the lunatic racist Anders Behring Breivik should set an example. Europe is moving towards a state of racist violence and unfortunately, this atmosphere seems pretty appropriate for new Breiviks.