We woke up with a sharp pain in our heads. We found ourselves in one of the cobblestone streets. As we opened our eyes wide, we couldn’t believe it! Signs written in Arabic alphabet, buildings with Greek flags, people running around; apart from thousands of hopes blooming in the eyes staring at us. There is a clear sense of chaos around, but a peace from below fills us. Children paint the Turkish flag on the walls, the bazaar is set up; people are shopping. We felt as if we had zoned out in our history class and was having a maladaptive daydreaming episode where we got inside one of the books. My friend asked why there was a crowd gathered. “I’ll go and see,” I replied. I got the newspaper from the paperboy. I froze the second I saw the date: 27th December, 1919. I saw a soldier with hair as bright and yellow as hay – this was shortly before I realised that Atatürk was there, on stage, greeting his people from the deep blue. There he was: his reassuring ocean-blue eyes were shining, and Atatürk was addressing the people with his strong oratory and confident tone. At that moment when my friend and I met eye to eye, we realized that we were witnessing a very important aspect of our past.
In fact, we became aware of the efforts of our beloved “ata” and all his friends who led and contributed to the establishment of this beautiful country, while we were paying attention to the churning sounds rising from the crowd and the anxious questions of the citizens, and repeating their answers with peace of mind as they are today. It made us proud that people from all backgrounds listened with great attention and hope. After the speech, we stated that we wanted to go in the opposite direction of the dispersed crowd and talk to Mustafa Kemal. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t get permission. When we couldn’t get permission, we were just walking back with the disappointment on our faces when the person behind us said, “Let them get in.” We were happy with his voice and we were filled with excitement. We followed him to the study with the sweet excitement and pride of going to our role model and head teacher.
Atatürk asked, “Tell me, what are you going to talk to me guys?” When we realized the situation, we started to talk with tears in our eyes: “It’s good that there are people who are as revolutionary as you and have a developed leadership spirit, otherwise we don’t know what our situation would be. The homeland is lost, but we can’t do anything. How can a person stay calm while watching his homeland being divided and shared by people of other nationalities?” My father, with his most fatherly demeanor, started to speak to calm us down: “Don’t worry, as long as there are young people who are as enlightened as you and burn with love for the country, the country will always stand; your future will always be hopeful!”