A Bird’s Eye View
One day last week a girl was walking when she came across a dead bird lying in front of her. She immediately understood that someone had passed away to the other side of life. A few steps later she found a red carnation on the street that inspired her to make a wish for all those who had dedicated their lives to the pursuit of justice.
It was during these moments that Mehmed Uzun passed away. It was a melancholic but beautiful coincidence. He passed away young, leaving behind his wife and two children. He also left a great literary legacy and contribution for his country and his people.
Mehmed Uzun was the author of about 12 novels and was considered one of the pioneers of modern Kurdish literature. He wrote in Turkish, Kurdish and Swedish. His novels have been translated in 20 languages. He received the Freedom of Thought and Speech award from the Turkish Publishers Association, the Torgny Segersted Freedom Pen Award and from the Swedish Academy the prestigious Stina-Erik Lindeberg Award in 2002.
He was buried in the place that he loved the most and inspired him, Diyarbakır. The funeral was an immense emotional and literary event. The city had lost a son, the inhabitants were crying, the walls were crying. The mosque where the funeral was held was a reflection of all historic cultures that had passed and left their signature in Diyarbakır. It had been a Byzantine church and then a synagogue until it became a mosque. He was blessed by all these cultures and religions. Almost half of the population of the city escorted him to his last resting place. His pictures were present everywhere. A lackadaisical order prevailed during and after the ceremony, making him feel happy as his soul observed the events from high above, much higher than from our perches. The speeches at his funeral were made by friends and reflected his intellectual contributions to his language and to his people. He was indeed a great writer and many people had come to say farewell to him from all parts of Turkey.
The cemetery was simple in its august silence. The inscribed gravestones were sad. They demonstrated that the inhabitants of the city died young. This must change, dear humans. Even though the situation has improved it has not improved enough. The people of that city and other cities in that area must be given more means to develop, more investments and a better health care system. If this is done then maybe the children of the city will cease playing with toy guns, if they know that they will have a future. One participant at the funeral said that Mehmed’s funeral reminded him of the funeral of the Greek poet and Nobel Laureate Seferis who had passed away in Athens in 1971.
May your journey be peaceful, Mehmed. We will all remember you, humans and birds alike.