Immortal

The year of 1930, the day December 23. The second fundamentalist uprising experienced at the west of the province of Menemen in Anatolia, while Turkey was young republic. (The first one had been experienced in 1925, and it was fundamentalist Sheikh Said uprising.)

The pictured Kubilay, a young lieutenant, was killed into the hands of a group that wants sharia. Mustafa Fehmi Kubilay was 23 years old. He had graduated from teacher’s training school. After completing his compulsory military service he was going to serve as teacher. He had dreams…

But after the abholisment of caliphate by Ataturk, the ones who wants sharia and the caliphate did not stop. After a long period of preparation, a bigot which called as Dervish Mehmet and 28 men who supported to him have provoked public in Menemen where Kubilay made military duty. Kubilay was injured by them. After then they captured Kubilay while he was alive, and they cut Kubilay’s head with a knife. Kubilay’s cutting head has been impaled and showed around at the end of the stick at square.

After, these bigot people were arrested by troops that come in here.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk has asked immediately the establishment of a court when he heard event. The court was established and the 29 people were executed in the same place where they cut off the head of Kubilay in Menemen.

According to a rumor, Ataturk was so angry and upset for young Kubilay’s death that even he had wanted the deletion of Menemen over the map.

Kubilay is first martyr of the revolution of secular Republic of Turkey. I’m sure if he had lived, he would have added many beauty to the children. And he would have been an immortal in the children minds, but he has been immortal for all country.

Each year, mainly including Izmir in Turkey, the commemorative ceremonies are held in many cities on Kubilay’s behalf like today. And, the brutality of his death, the bloodlust of bigots and what have been sacrificed for a secular republic, are remembering.

Look carefully into his eyes at the picture. There is a beauty that the bigots wanted to destroy in his eyes at Middle East, Turkey and elsewhere in the world today; the beauty of light. Today, as same as nearly 90 years ago, the darkness wants to drown light. Indeed there is nothing change.