10.10.15
Today, I won't be telling you a story but recounting the 4 seconds that are the greatest nightmare for thousands of people.
What 4 seconds can take from you. Searching for the pieces of our friends' bodies as if searching for loose change on the ground. The smell of burnt flesh and hair. Hearing the echoes of screams in the surroundings even when your ears cannot hear them. Because they did this to us.
Seven years ago today, in the capital of Turkey, civil society organizations and everyone against war organized a peace rally in response to the increasing war conditions in the world. People from all over the country were gathering in front of the train station. Until 10:04.
I remember standing side by side with my friends, laughing; we were making jokes as usual. Then, I felt the high-pressure hitting and compressing my body, pushing it, and my friend right in front of me tried to reach out to me. I couldn't hold onto that hand. 4 seconds later, the second bomb, closer to us, exploded. Those 4 seconds took our loved ones from us. Those 4 seconds taught us to try to see a familiar hand amidst severed limbs. All of us continued to live with shame for surviving.
In the span of 7 years, there have been more than 30 terrorist bombings in our country. This work is a reminder and a tribute. For everyone who lost they loved. For everyone who lost their lives. For everything we close our eyes to and try to forget.
