I Don’t Even Own a Piece of Land as Big as This Ashtray; Which Land Am I Going to Defend?

Abstract

Five or six years before I went into military service, I used to tease my mother that I would go to Şirnak. I mean, even when I was a child, I used to have this kind of envy. I would listen to the elderly tell their stories of military service. There was so much pride in those stories. Neither my father nor my elder brother has served in the military. My goal was to go to a decent place and do my military service for all of us. I felt something was missing. My father could never talk about his “military experience” and tell stories. I wanted to have stories I would be proud tell to my son. I had sympathy for the people of the Southeast. I was curious about them. What do these men, whom we call terrorists, want? What is their problem? I partly went there to find my own truths. My wife and my family did not want me to go there. They even tried to find someone with influence in the military. The training I had in Hatay was survival training. They prepared us for the East, telling us all about the place and what we should expect. We were the Special Team. Fifteen of us were selected to join the Special Team from among 370 soldiers. I came first in the shooting exercises among 5,700 soldiers. I have loved weapons since my childhood. They gathered those of us who were physically fit and good at shooting and sports into a separate team. I was in the Hatay Special Forces, First Company, Second Team.