www.talkcyprus.org

[Khan]

He will be fondly missed by those who are indebted to him. May he rest in peace.

(To admins: This is a bicommunal forum, i would rather not have to pay tribute to him in a thread initiated by people intent on insulting him).

[RudeGal]

Ditto Khan. I did think we all did a disservice even writing on that Kifeas thread (even tho many lovely comments now written on it), so thankyou for starting this.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bulent Ecevit when I was very little. He was kind & softly spoken - none of the pomp & false grandeur of other politicians. His heart was in the right place! The world needs more of him, tho hopefully with less of the political trauma that he had to preside over and make difficult decisions about...RIP Bulent Ecevit.

[Xenos 2Fan]

[size=7]Note to mods: Moved my entry to this thread from Kifeas' thread to p
rotest his and s300's insults.

Note to other members: If you want to spew insults and propaganda please do it on Kifeas' thread and leave this thread be.[/size]


Original post:
Quote: I did not agree with him on some things but his character was unquestionable. Allah rahmet eylesin ve nur icinde yatsin.

Thank you for starting this thread Khan.

[zan]

Hope lies in peace

Peace lies with you

You find your peace

Peace go with you.


Ecevit

(I will leave my respects in both threads. No man will take away my right to do so through insults)

[Leyla]

Thank you for creating this thread Khan... may his soul rest in peace and may his family and loved ones find the strength to get through this difficult time.

[100%cypriot]

It comes as no surprise from some of the Greek Cypriots on the forum their heartless comments about Ecevit but he will allways be rememberd for his courage in libertaing the Turkish and Greek cypriots from the hands of the Fanatical Eioka b.
His death is a very painfull one but nobody should make such disgusting comments about such a clever,brave man and his work will go forward to the next generation and beyond.

P.s G/C's he might have died but his work will never be undone by anyone.

[brother]

Allah rahmet eylesin ve nur icinde yatsin.

A great statesman has been lost. :cry:

[depurple]

DP I have removed your post from this thread as this thread is for those that wish to pay their respects to Bülent Ecevit. There is a thread for those wishing to make other comments on his passing away and there is already a copy of your post I have removed here in that thread at the following URL

http://www.talkcyprus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=73039#73039

Thanks you (erolz)

[Xenos 2Fan]

Here is an interesting article authored by a non-Turk.



Ecevit was my hero -- despite the telegraph operator's blunder
Tuesday, November 7, 2006

» Ecevit was my hero -- despite the telegraph operator's blunder
(David Judson)








Germans have a very good term: zeitgeist. It does not have a proper equivalent in English, and in Turkish either. It means something like the idea of the age or the spirit of the age. Throughout my years as a student, 'zeitgeist' was the political movement of social democracy.

David Judson
Germans have a very good term: zeitgeist. It does not have a proper equivalent in English or in Turkish, either. It means something like the idea of the age or the spirit of the age. Throughout my years as a student, “zeitgeist” was the political movement of social democracy. It was a political movement that rejected the American way of brutal capitalism while also supporting the market economy together with a humane “social state model” offering benefits in a wide array of fields ranging from health to insurance and education. And, probably like millions of students across the world, I had three heroes: One was Willy Brandt, who fled to Norway and fought against the Nazis, who originated in his country, and then became the chancellor of that country. The second one was the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, a graduate of an American university who became the conscience leader of the world public during the Vietnam War. And the third one was Bülent Ecevit, who was the prime minister of Turkey when I first came to Turkey on a high school scholarship program at the age of 17.

We, undoubtedly, were the ones to save the world, as every new generation assumes. There would be no wars. No one would be unemployed. Famine in Africa would be eliminated. The Cold War between the United States and Russia, posing a nuclear threat to the entire world, would end. Were we too naïve? Of course we were. But when we were having heated discussions at cafés, taking part in protests, these three heroes were, at least for me, the source of hope for this vision.

In 1974, I was back in the United States after a year of intense education both at the school and outside the school and just before the Cyprus operation. I watched Ecevit on American television and in the press as he paid an uninvited visit to Britain in an effort to stop the war and as his request for help was turned down by Prime Minister Harold Wilson. I watched with horror on television the military campaign ordered by the Ecevit government after Britain (turning a blind eye to responsibilities stemming from its status as a guarantor country) remained indifferent to Nikos Sampson overthrowing President Makarios. I cannot forget how the American ABC and CBS television stations wrongly pronounced Ecevit's name. Their pronunciation sounded like “Esevit, Asavit or Esevat.” I was very angry with that. Later, I had another year at Boğaziçi University, where I studied as a guest student. In the electoral period of that year, Boğaziçi University carried out the first scientific pre-election opinion poll in Turkey in a project led by my teacher Metin Heper. I think we did it in cooperation with Milliyet, but I may be wrong. I can never forget what happened next; a poller who was supposed to bring poll results from eastern Anatolia could not get on the plane, since there was no seat on the flight. My Metin “hoca” went to the airport, found the pilot who was readying for takeoff and made a special request to him. The poller could not get on the plane, but the documents were brought to Istanbul by the pilot himself. Today, we take the polls as natural things like rain but at that time, it was a first. And of course, we were delighted when the poll results showed Ecevit and his Republican People's Party (CHP) in the lead.



A telegram in Turkish from an American fan:

Then I returned to my country again. Taking advice from Faruk Birtek, another professor at Boğaziçi, I decided on a transfer to the Los Angeles campus of the University of California. My transcripts from Boğaziçi University were a bit problematic. I failed the French class, for example. Therefore, my admission into the school depended on the favorable decision of the dean and thus I was out of school for a few months. This was not a big deal since I also had to find money for school. I got a job as a butcher in the town where I grew up: I was on night duty at the butcher shop.

In 1978, there were elections again in far-away Turkey. I was watching with curiosity to see who would come out the winner. You know the results; my hero Ecevit got the people's approval to remain prime minister. And I decided to send him a telegram.

At that time in the United States, you had to find an operator and read to him what you wanted to write in the message in order send someone a telegram. The telegram used to be sent and the next day, and you used to get a confirmation by mail. Of course I knew that the prime minister was a graduate of Robert College and a translator of foreign writers such as T.S. Elliot. But I thought it would be inappropriate to send a message in English. I read the Turkish letters one by one to the operator. “Sayın Başbakan Bülent Ecevit, tebrikler. Bir Amerikalı taraftarınızdan. David Judson,” meaning “Mr. Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, congratulations. From an American fan of yours. David Judson.”

The next day, I received the confirmation. “Sayın Bülent Esevit. Tebrigler. Bir Amerikalı Parafparınızdan.” Did he ever receive it? I don't know. Did he laugh at it? I don't know that either. I always wanted to meet him one day and correct my mixed-up telegram. But it has never happened.

I leave comments on his political career throughout the following stages to the historians. My hero Willy Brandt passed away in 1992. My other hero Olof Palme was the victim of a bullet fired by an assassin in 1986. And my last political hero, I learned this morning, left our world on Sunday. This fan of Ecevit will never forget the values, principles and “zeitgeist” that he represents. May God have mercy on him.

Source: TDN

[zan]

TURKISH-GREEK POEM


You become aware when you feel homesick
That you are brothers with the Greek;
Just look at a child of Istanbul
Listening to a Greek epic.

We've sworn at each other
In the free manner of our language.
We've drawn knife on blood
Yet a love lies hidden in us
For days of peace like these.

What if in our veins
It were the same blood that flows?
From the same air in our hearts
A crazy wind blows.

So generous like this rain
And warm like the sun.
The armfuls of goodness of spring
That surge from within.

Our hostility is like a drink
Distilled from the fruit of the climate
As harmful and as tasteful as any drink.
From this water from this taste have we sinned.

A blue magic between us
And this warm sea
And two peoples on its shores
Equals in beauty.

The golden age of the Aegean
Will revive through us
As with the fire of the future
The hearth of the past comes alive.

First a merry laughter comes to your ear
Then some Turkish with a Greek accent.
Nostalgic about the Bosporus
And you remember the Raki*.

It is when you are homesick
That you recall you are brothers with the Greek.


Bülent ECEVİT London 1947

[cannedmoose]

I have to say that even as a neutral I find it somewhat disturbing that this thread is an 'enforced' tribute to Ecevit. Like it or not, this is a bicommunal forum and as such a number of people will not regard Ecevit as a heroic figure. Attempting to force others to hold back criticism is in my view censorship and should have no place on this forum. Why should Ecevit be immune when in other threads Makarios, Papadopoulos and Grivas are labelled as butchers? We can't have one rule for some and another for others. Can you imagine if someone created a thread dedicated to the memory of Nicos Sampson and instructed no criticism... come on, this is just bizarre.

It is in this light that I am quite worried by the tone and track of this thread. No-one should be immune from criticism, alive or dead... and surely it is part of the raison d'etre of this forum to encourage praise and/or criticism of anyone involved in the Cyprus problem in ANY thread that relates to them. For the record, I don't think Ecevit was a butcher, but he was certainly the key player in launching the intervention and subsequent invasion of Cyprus by Turkish forces in July-August 1974. So like it or not, he does have blood on his hands, no matter whether his motives were true or ill.

[Xenos 2Fan]

Moose,
I understand your concern but there are two threads about him. There are plenty of arguments on the other thread and people can say what they wish about him.

I don't think it is much to ask to respect some privacy during aperiod of mourning. No one is saying that he was perfect but his achievements and contributions far outweigh some of the mistakes he may have had made.

I would show the same respect to any greek or Greek Cypriot leader that passes.

[cannedmoose]

Xenos 2Fan wrote: Moose,
I understand your concern but there are two threads about him. There are plenty of arguments on the other thread and people can say what they wish about him.

I don't think it is much to ask to respect some privacy during aperiod of mourning. No one is saying that he was perfect but his achievements and contributions far outweigh some of the mistakes he may have had made.

I would show the same respect to any greek or Greek Cypriot leader that passes.

Tufan, I respect your motives, but as per my edit to my previous post (made while you posted this one), you have to see that this kind of 'in memorium' thread risks creating a precedent that would be wholly distasteful. Imagine a thread created to honour the achievements of Adolf Hitler for example. They could mention the construction of the autobahns or promotion of neo-classical architecture as achievements, ignoring the butchery and slaughter that characterises his reign to most rational people.

Therefore, it's not the veneration of Ecevit that I object to, that is your right, but you must appreciate that he is a contentious figure to many people on this forum, some of whom would feel that he was responsible for the death of their relatives, just as Grivas and Makarios would be held responsible by others.

Regardless, may he rest in peace and condolences to his family and friends.

[zan]

Moose I agree with every thing you said but have an idea about the matter. The people that post on this forum do so at regular intervals and are well known to all. Can we at least come to an agreement that we can give the dead a week to go cold in their graves before we slam into them. Of course I can see that people are hateful of this man but we must respect each others feelings. The alternative is a free for all and revenge when another leader dies. I for one will not be cheering when they hang Saddam as I will be mourning the loss of our humanity on that day. I wish to express my freedom of speech by refusing to be disrespectful.

[turkkan]

canned moose,
not honouring this man though, gives a message to youre side that we did not agree with ecevit. We certainly dont place him in the same league as Grivas. I mean if you support grivas, you should openly say it on this forum, given that youre anonymous, well you had the option to be, you can say waht you want and that is this point of these forums, you can exchange opinions that quite frankly you probably wouldnt exchange if you had met randomly. I see no point in pretending at all.