The March Of Silent Shoes
September 28, 2001
Maçka Democracy Park
Nazire Dedeman
Founder President of Umut Foundation
Speech Text
Dear Guests,
I dont know what will happen from now on, like tomorrow for example, but I know we had a a world where living in peace was talked/discussed and even where this was considered as a fundamental right and freedom as recently as yerterday. Whereas today we have a world which came on the verge of a war which we dont even know how long it will continue.
Today, in the shade of this kind of probable war, we have gathered here to realize our activity Sessiz Ayakkabıların Yürüyüşü (The March of Silent Shoes) we have organized to say No to Individual Arrmament one more time, on September 28th Individual Disarmament day.
Welcome.
Dear Guests,
As you all know; Umut Foundation fights to solve disagreements without resorting to violence by reconciliatory and peaceful means .In according with this purpose Umut Foundation is involved in activities for peace in Europe, Middle East and intensively in Turkey. In this context, it organizes fact-finding conferences, organizes seminars, organizes trainings, publishes books adressing to youth, emphasizing the importance of education.
Every year, within the September 28th Individual Disarmament Day activities, it organizes contests with different subjects it determines in different branches which are always about individual disarmament.
Today after the March of Silent Shoes we are going to realize here, the results of the contest of film and short-length film on Youth and Weapon will also be announced and a forum will be done organized with the Istanbul Bar Association.
Dear guests,
Today we gathered in the Maçka Park with the supports of the Şişli Municipality .
As you see we are trying to do our best to struggle against individual armament.
But you should know that not only us but millions of people in the world are working toward this aim. This gives us power. I think we need to observe shortly what the world has done concerning disarmament.
For instance this year, between the dates July 10th -20th , the conference about small arms organized in New York by United Nations has aroused interest.
More than one thousand delegates from 189 countries have participated to the conference. Solutions have been searched to prevent the illegal sale of small arms and the obtainment of criminal enterprises.
An American delegate,who participated in the conference,said that a measure cannot be taken in a United Nations level concerning the prevention of carrying weapon and its control and to leave this job to national governments.
I dont know if It would be appropriate to remind you here of the skyjackers who brought suddenly the world to the verge of a war and have realized this bloodbath/massacre with the small arms they carried freely on them ?
Dear Guests,
The individual armament resisters who gathered in front of the United Nationss building in New York in the end of the conference have entered a meaningful protest just like you,just like how we have done today.
They have put their relatives shoes who have been killed with individual armament (like guns, rifles, knifes) on a red carpet, theyve danced, have sang songs.Theyve said No to Individual Armament.
As you see, an efficient struggle is being conducted against individual armament in Turkey as well in the world.
I think that the figures which have reflected in the United Nations Conference show everything.
In the 90s, small arms have been used in 46 out of 49 armed clashes which have happened in the worl d.
Again during the wars in the 90s, 4 million people died. 90% of these losses are civilians. 80% of the civilians humanity has lost are women and children.
Other data that have reflected in the conference have shown that in houses where small arms are owned murder are 2,7 times more committed comparing to houses without any arm and that in houses where weapons are present suicide events are happening 4,8 times more comparing to houses without any weapon.
When we bring these figures one under the other, side by side, it results that the world is already in a total war. In our country, there are millions of licensed weapons circulating between unconscious hands and there are 4 times more unlicenced weapons.
The data taken from the Justice Ministry General Directorate of Criminal Records and Statistics display how serious the situation is.
In Criminal Courts, according to year 2000s statistics, the total number of legal action opened due to intentional homicide and homicide by negligence is 26,403 and the total number of accused who stood on trial in these legal actions is 38,865.
21,515 legal actions have been opened in 2000 due to opposition to the law numbered 6136 concerning firearms and knives and 27.933 people have stood on trial.
In brief, the total number of accused who went to trial due to Turkish Laws homicide felonies and opposition to the law numbered 6136 is 66,798.
Injuries are not included into these figures. Thousands and thousands of people are ontrial due to these crimes.
Another reality is that there are 570 registered weapon repair and production places in Turkey.
These realities are sad but also show how proned we are to violence.
According to the Justice Ministry General Directorate of Crimes and Prisons istatistics, 12,529 out of 59,901 prisoners are convicted due to homicide . This means that the right to life of 12,529 people has been taken away.
Dear Guests,
After all these things,you might wonder what is the point of talking about struggle against individual armament in a world where war is on the agenda.
If you just put yourself in these peoples place who have lost people they love, you would give a meaning to this struggle.
As everyone who has lost its relative may know, fire burns the place it falls, knife the place it touches. Even though it is said to be forgettable,it isnt forgettable. Their life is not as it used to be anymore.
I would like to ask you as a person who lost his heart due to a stray bullet, arent you worry that there are 500 millions of guns and rifles ready to be fired which can be pointed to you or you relatives anytime in the world?
Plese attach importance and worry. You should be aware that a trigger pulled by just one finger can take the people you love away from you.
In Turkey, not only guns and rifles kill people. Recently, the number of murders committed with just a point of a knife killing mothers,fathers,spouses,brothers,the half of the heart is very ashaming. How ever hard it sems even impossible to put an end to this, we should get rid of this shame. This and this kind of realities put forward unarguably that people should raise their vorce.
Today, we have between you and me, mothers,fathers,spouses,brothers,sisters and friends whose half of the heart has been taken away.For them, as well for all of us, it is not possible to bring back the person it has been lost. But there is no obstacle in front of searching a way to say no to this negative trend.
We as Umut Foundation we believe that this inconvenience can be overcome with stubborn efforts. We feel hopeful for our people because we see that the support and participation to our call to struggle we have started against individual armament is growing more and more everyday. Our activities are curiously watched,participation to our activities is increasing.
But today at this time we know that it is hard to say that we are hopeful for the whole humanity. We have seen in the attack carried out in the United States that planes became a weapon just like a gun/knife. Individual violence is starting to become as strong as organized violence. While individual violence is transforming into a collective terror,it has brought the world in the verge of a war.
We hope there wont be any other wars, that innocent people wont die anymore. We hope violence and terror will be eradicated and justice will be served. Its only after this that we can live proud of ourselves. In this way we would have the pleasure to know that we can believe with all our heart that the right to life can be defended in all circumstances, despite everything and all the time.
In our country,the fact that there is a weapon culture and tradition , a weapon interest, a low education level and a society fond of violence and the fact that all these increase more and more, made us live these painful realities. Our govenments have unfortunately contributed to these realities with their penalty and amnesty policies, with their implementations facilitating even encouraging Individual Armament just as they are inciting. Thats why we wanted to call on.Theres an urgent need to education and legal regulations.
Every human has a right to life arising from its birth as a human. This right cannot be taken from anybody.
THERE İS AN URGENT NEED TO EDUCATİON AND LEGAL REGULATİONS.
The world wasnt silent, we shouldnt be either.
With this conception, weve added a new work to our works we have maintained for many years. We wanted to adress to our society from here, from Maçka Park in order to reach to a wider mass,to be able to activate the social awaress.Shortly we will watch all together the March of the Silent Shoes. On the red carpet we will put shoes in order to put an end to this trend on behalf of the people we love and whose right to life has been taken away due individual armament.By this action we will do accompanied by a music, we aim to aware more the public opinion.
Our struggle is the struggle to increase the awareness of citizenship by making head against policies and implementations facilitating Individual Armament, to sort violence and weapon out of their world and to attach them to rule of law principles.
If I have to summarize my talk in a few words, our hope and our aim is to draw our societys attention to the issue of violence and weapon through our foundation and different institutions we are in cooperation with since we think our societys education level is low.We also aim to show how regrettable results unconscious armament causes and to create solution.
The most important thing is that we exist as individuals possessing social conscience. We all hope that our youth will be aware of their societal responsibilities,will be peaceful and creative.
In order to deserve living humanely, we try to do our duty falling to our share by the intermediary of such an activity by means of transferring our message to masses. Come support us. Lets live in dignified societies which are conciliatory , which solve problems by peaceful means, which do not need anger,violence and weapon.
As a conclusion I emphasize that every human has the right to life arising from its birth as a human and I want to point out that this right is inalienable and irrecusable.
I would like to thank everyone who participated to our activity. I would like to thank individually the Şişli Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül and its team, to everybody who contributed. With the hope of a world without war, I would like to say one more time No to Individual Armament and give my regards.
For a future full of hope.