RIGHT TO LIFE
We have a very big problem!
This problem is not direct flights!
Not commercial embargoes!
Not isolation!
Yes, I accept that these are also problems of ours, but!
“If the flow of traffic in the country where you live causes more loss of life than any war, you have to think once again about the issue of ‘respect for the right to life’ in that country.”
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“In an accident on the Kermiya–Köşklüçiftlik road, while two cars were racing, the vehicle with license plate DB 888, driven by Serkan Altay, veered out of its lane and collided violently with the vehicle with license plate BK 602, driven by 46-year-old Gönül Kayımzade, who was coming from the opposite direction. Kayımzade was seriously injured and taken to Nicosia Dr. Burhan Nalbantoğlu Hospital.”
After reading this news, I noticed the report that our President, at the opening of KTHY’s Gaziantep General Sales Agency, said, “I want to share some good news,” and announced that the TRNC had applied to British Civil Aviation for direct flights.
At that moment, just as I was hoping for a positive response and about to daydream about what might happen if it came, there was one sentence that kept running through my mind about the accident: “The same thing could have happened to me on this road I use all the time!”
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First of all, I should say that I, too, am tired of constant warnings!
You go to the doctor and get lectured—exercise, do this, do that, and so on—or warnings about smoking are given almost everywhere—even on cigarette packets—and they do not bring about any change in your life.
In other words, people assume that the more these warnings are repeated, the more people will heed them. But in my view, this sometimes has the opposite effect, unfortunately.
And yet, when warnings about such matters have the opposite effect, that is something that affects you on a personal level.
If you smoke, you will get cancer; if you do not eat healthily, you will become obese; or if you do not exercise, you will have heart problems!
This is a process that unfolds entirely at your discretion and concerns you.
But there are certain rules you have to follow in a shared space!
Following these rules means being part of society, and that means you respect other people!
For example, smoking indoors is prohibited, isn’t it?
For this reason, smokers mostly restrain themselves in these spaces and try not to smoke; it is a behavior I appreciate.
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Now let’s turn to another shared space where the consequences of not following the rules are very serious: traffic!
Readers and listeners who follow my articles or radio programs will know that whenever I speak about traffic, I say the same thing: “Please respect the right to life of other drivers—the people who share the road with you—and obey the traffic rules.”
As I said above, constant warnings can sometimes have the opposite effect on people.
But that is not entirely true when it comes to traffic.
Because this is not a matter that concerns only you, like not exercising or not eating healthily, as we just said!
In the area in question—on the road—you share the same space with other people, and their lives are entirely in your hands!
In other words, the most fundamental human right, the “right to life,” is in the hands of other people who have that same right.
Set the traffic rules aside; set everything aside.
This situation can only be addressed through respect.
Just respect people’s right to life.
That alone will give you the message you need about obeying the rules.
Besides, what is the point of creating shared spaces if we do not respect one another?
Ultimately, at this point, I believe that “we must learn to respect one another and, sadly, this is our biggest problem before anything else.”
Yours sincerely!
CONGRATULATIONS
I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the TRNC national team, who defeated Crimea 3–1 in the final of the ELF CUP tournament, held for the first time in our country, with goals from Hamis, Hasan and Ertaç.
I hope that the unjust embargoes imposed by the world will end as soon as possible and that we will have the chance to see our national team in every tournament.
Frankly, the absence of such a successful team from tournaments is a huge loss for those tournaments.
Don’t you think so?
Congratulations once again…