But why is this ugly there? Winter of 2013. I took a number of different courses to learn about the country's traditional anthropology and some of the topics outside the circle of study. Anthropology of Borders and Borderlands was one of them. After getting acquainted with all the heavy thoughts, I decided to get acquainted with the lifestyle and hard struggle of the people in the border areas. Then he went to the Turkish-Syrian border area for fieldwork.
One man and two borders
Since the start of the Syrian civil war in the present Turkish border town of Nusaybin, brick, stone, and barbed wire walls have been erected along with mines in the name of NATO border and Turkey's local security. Just as the vast knowledge of the local people about the location of landmines on the border could not save thousands of people from paralysis and death, so too the cripples, death and the piles of mines on the border could not suppress people's feelings and daily life. People constantly cross the border in search of new life to build love in the pursuit of feelings. In order to make life easier, the state has to keep a close watch on trade. The artificial frontiers that the nation-states have defined as their own sovereignty, drawn by the colonialists, are constantly being broken down by the frontier people to build their own frontiers. The masses die in this commotion of border construction. Killing and losing lives, both groups belong to the same class.
A girl came up from the border river
At the end of the fieldwork, at the beginning of twilight, there was an opportunity to escape from the main team one day. I went out to see the border area with a local friend. As a local resident of Bandusubar Nusaibin, his knowledge of the history, problems and war situation of the border people was similar to that of Mullah Nasiruddin. Sitting on the banks of the Cha-Cha River on the border between the two countries, we watched the movement of people from the Syrian side on the other side. The Kurds call this river Chekhchekh. Military outposts and patrols of the two states around the river. We sat down. There was fatigue in my eyes but there was huge excitement. That excitement turned into anxiety when some movement began in the water of the river a little farther away. I didn't pay attention at the beginning. But when I saw a whole person coming out of the water, I was scared in the light of day.
In contrast, my companion girl was unconcerned. Border people are accustomed to handling such situations. The whole man was a Syrian teenager. In short, her name is Nayla Al Thani. He is coming to Turkey by jumping into a river to save his life from Kamuslu, Syria, on the other side of the border. The river was his only help to keep an eye on the soldiers patrolling the border.
In the beginning, he did not want to accompany his girlfriend Thani to avoid police trouble. However, at one stage of the insistence, he showed interest in taking Thani to the local police station. Judging by the situation at the time, Turkey's refugee policy in 2013 was not mature. So according to the law, the police were helpless. The latest is the shelter of a local refugee camp under the auspices of a handsome officer. I had to leave Thani in the refugee camp and return with the university team. In the winter, I did not want to leave a 13-year-old girl alone in a refugee camp. But state law has left us both alone. But his mind was on the book kept in the wet potter in Thani's hand and his innocent smile.
With six Eid Thani, but not this time
The next day I arrived at the Thani camp with an Arabic-speaking friend. But Thani is missing. The security guards of the refugee camp could not inform the police. Thani returned to the refugee camp in the evening. It is learned that he went to the city to inform his father in Syria about his current location over the phone. Thani's family was then under Assad's surveillance. Before that, the whole family was in Assad's prison for four years. All other festivals including Eid kept Thani silent. Kishori Thani looked at Syria from the border of Nusaibin and shed tears silently. I spent the whole six Eids with Thani. Despite the limitations, I was not stingy in trying to accompany Thani.
Thani was in the refugee camp school for two years. Thani's results in secondary and higher secondary were skyrocketing. This has been seen thousands of times with Thani. There was talk of his childhood, his new life in Turkey and his homeland Syria. Although Thani's proficiency in Arabic and Kurdish fascinated us over and over again, his love for books fascinated everyone. Thani was devoted to the Egyptian poet Naguib Mahfouz. The devotion that began was through his father. Thani's father was in Cairo during the Russian-American Cold War. He studied Arabic comparative literature in Cairo. That is why Thani's father met the Nobel laureate Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfuz.
Nagib Mahfuz wrote for Thani to be born
When Thani's father left Cairo on the eve of the Gulf War, Thani's father asked Naguib Mahfuz to write something for him if he had a daughter. Nagib Mahfuz wrote and fixed the name 'Thani' for the girl. Thani came into the world exactly 10 years later. When Thani arrived in Turkey by the river in search of survival, he had in his pocket a letter from Naguib Mahfuz and a signed book. In the blood of Thani, a revolutionary philosophy has been formed by combining the life-saving protest and the memory of Naguib Mahfuz, Which speaks of the relentless struggle to free the Arab world from the grip of neo-colonialism. It bridges the gap between tradition and modernity and cries out against hunger and oppression. Durjoy Thani has proved his greatness with his impenetrable personality. He submitted the book, signed by Naguib Mahfouz, and some letters to the Turkish National Archives. The Turkish government has responded to Thani's huge heart by granting citizenship to Thani and his family.
One of the classical struggles
But today, after about 10 years, the reason for writing about Thani is different. As I was preparing for another Eid without Thani in the glory of Corona, Thani gave the good news of peace. If all goes well, Thani will go to Brown University in Muluk, USA next August to read comparative literature. Thani has created a strong bond between mind and desire without taking sides in the conflict of society and personal truth. The result of that bond is this success. Thani has recovered from his childhood trauma. He lost his father a few years ago. Patriarchy has beaten Thani's mental state as hard as iron and has given him a strong foundation to understand the world. The Syrian civil war has stopped the pace of life of millions of people, but it has not been able to defeat Thani. Like Hazari Tagore in Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's impeccable creation 'Adarsh ​​Hindu Hotel', his 'effort' is all in life.
He who has no hope in life, all that he had to do has been done his life is in great trouble. Thani has repeatedly reminded the people around him through his actions. Enthusiasm was the only asset in Thani's life. Enthusiasm has raised his head. Thani showed me the letters written by Nagib Mahfuz at different times. But due to ignorance in Arabic, Nagib Mahfuz's commentary on love and dreams written in thin letters was not known. Endless war has impoverished the Arab world. The Dhrupadis elevated themselves to infinite heights by turning poverty into strength. I hope Thani will be one of those classics.
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