They say that silence also has a lifespan. It endures oppression for years, keeps the truth buried in its chest, does not let tears fall below the eyelids, and does not let screams reach the lips. But when silence reaches its limit, it not only breaks, but also turns the course of history… Think, what would happen if one day every silence in the world found a language…? The silence that a mother adopted for the sake of her children, the silence that a laborer wore to hide his empty pocket, the silence that an innocent person buried inside himself by standing on the threshold of the court for years, the silence that was buried in the halls with the broken promises of the people, and the silence that every human being adopted in front of his conscience for some or the other interest… I am sure, if these silences speak together, the loudest noise in the world will not be created by human tongues, but by the truths that have been imprisoned in chests, walls, files, and pages of history for years. On that day, perhaps there will be no need for speeches, because silences themselves will be their own witnesses, their own evidence, and their own decisions… First of all, the silences of homes will speak. Those walls that have listened to the sound of sobs every night, those ceilings that have seen countless eyes wake up, those doors behind which so many lives have been broken, will all begin to reveal one secret after another. Then it will be known that in many homes, poverty does not only reside in empty pots, but also resides behind smiling faces. Many mothers have transferred their share of hunger to the stomachs of their children, many fathers have remained silent, calling their helplessness honor, and many children were such who bore the burden of circumstances at a young age…
After homes, if the silences of the courts open their mouths, perhaps the chair of justice will be the first to lower its gaze. Files kept in closed cabinets for years will begin to call out to each other. Each case will begin to tell its own story. Let someone tell you that its witnesses died but no verdict was reached, let someone say that the truth kept searching for evidence but the powerful hands kept blindfolding the law. How many innocent people grew old trying to prove their innocence throughout their lives, how many oppressed people died on the threshold of justice, and how many criminals smiled considering the weaknesses of the law as their success. If these silences were to speak, perhaps even the walls of the courts would question whether justice alone is enough or whether it is also necessary to be timely…? Then the silences of the parliament woke up. From the chairs of the assembly hall to the corridors, every brick started speaking. The promises that were made to the people before every election began to be held accountable one by one. Those resolutions that could never go beyond the files, those laws that were made for the benefit of the powerful and were never implemented in favor of the weak, those speeches that kept receiving applause but could not change the destiny of the nation, all started telling their own stories. Perhaps for the first time, the nation will realize that silences have been telling lies more than words… After that, the silences of the markets will speak. The shutters of shops, the machines of factories, the soil of the fields and the rough hands of the workers will testify that inflation is not just a game of numbers, but the story of the dying hearths of millions of homes. The farmer who grew grain but could not feed his children with milk will speak. The worker will show his sweat, the price of which is always lower than inflation. The small shopkeeper will tell how hope bloomed with the opening of the shop every day and was buried in the loan slips in the evening… Then the silences of the hospitals will open their tongues. White coats, empty beds, long queues, expensive medicines and waiting eyes will start speaking together. A mother will tell that her child’s life could not be saved only because the treatment was expensive for her. An elderly person will reveal the secret that helplessness had exhausted him more than the disease. Then it will be known that many people lose not to the disease, but to the cost of treatment…
Then the silences of educational institutions will begin to speak. School bells, college verandahs, university libraries and closed classrooms will tell a truth that we have been ignoring for years. Books will say that we were made only a means of passing exams, the lamp of character building was extinguished. The silent eyes of teachers will testify that they saw intelligent minds, but also saw diminishing characters. Degrees will say not with pride, but with regret that we were considered only a ladder of employment, not knowledge… Then the silences of the media will come out of the screen. The cameras will speak that they saw a lot, but could not show everything. The microphones will say that we heard the voice of truth and the whispers of power. Some news will say that they were capable of becoming headlines but were buried in some corner, and some ordinary things will admit that they were presented as extraordinary. On that day, perhaps even the news itself will decide that its real responsibility is not sensationalism, but truth… And then the silences of history will shed their centuries-old veil. Old castles, broken buildings, shrines, monuments and dusty documents will begin to speak together. They will say that nations are broken less by external enemies and more by internal mistakes. They will remind us that behind every rise there was honesty, justice and hard work, and behind every decline there was pride, injustice and selfishness. History may for the first time be written in the conscience of men instead of in a book…Before silences are forced to speak, we must learn to speak ourselves, for truth, for justice, for humanity, and for our future. Because when the responsible people of society become silent, then history has to take testimony from the silences… And I feel that the happiest society in the world is not one where everyone speaks, but one where the silences never need to speak.