Cemal Usak(Ussak) was the last Chairman of the Journalists and Writers Foundation. The foundation was closed on July 15 during the state of emergency. Cemal Usak, who took refuge in Europe from a witch hunt in Turkey,died abroad, where he was being treated for cancer. Cemal Usak, as a journalist, writer and intellectual name, has carried out many years of studies on cultures and interfaith dialogue, Abant Platform organizations, the Kurdish issue and Turkish political and thought life.

ERDOGAN’S FRIEND, HAFIZ AND INTELLECTUAL

Cemal Usak was a classmate of President Tayyip Erdogan’s in Imam Hatip School, who gave instructions on the witch hunt. He was a Koran teacher in Bursa, and then became one of the successful students of Imam Hatip in Istanbul. Later, he graduated from the Istanbul Higher Islamic Institute. The world of press broadcasting, in which he was interested as an amateur, opened new doors for him.  He was a writer for TRT, Samanyolu TV, Bridge, Zafer magazines, New Asia, New Generation, Time and Today newspapers and press outlets for many years. He also shared his experience in the field of radio and television with Turkey. Cemal Usak came to the agenda of Turkey as the spokesman for the Internal Anatolian group of the Wise Men’s Advisory Board created to resolve the latest Kurdish issue. He was a great intellectual who devoted his life to spreading the culture of democracy and coexistence in Turkey. He was unable to travel to Turkey from abroad due to the arrest and search decisions issued about him. He succumbed to the cancer he had last contracted and died in exile.

He had shared the following message from his personal Twitter account: “I am living my last days in the plan of reasons. Everything depends on the extra grace of my Lord. I ask friends to bless their rights.”  It turned out that he sent the message “Let me come, let me die in my country” through his lawyers, but the officials replied “Don’t come, we’ll arrest you, you’ll breathe your last breath in the dungeons”.

SPOKESMAN FOR THE WISE MEN

Born in Bursa in 1953, Cemal Usak spent most of his educational life and also his life in Istanbul. He graduated from Istanbul Higher Islamic Institute in 1977. After graduation, he entered the press-publishing world as a professional, where he was interested as an amateur during his student years. He has worked in various fields from correspondent to editor; columnist to manager. from 1979 to 1980, he worked as an advisor to the General Directorate of TRT. He served as the Group Spokesman for the Ic Anadolu Region in the Advisory Committee of the Wise Men during the settlement process, where advances were made on the Kurdish issue, which will contribute to the democratization of Turkey.

DEMOCRACY AND THE CULTURE OF COEXISTENCE…

Articles and ideas based on democracy and the culture of coexistence, Islam and democracy were published on Bridge, Zafer magazines; New Asia, New Generation, Zaman and Today newspapers and on the Rotahaber website. Uşşak started working as a Vice President at the Journalists and Writers Foundation in 1995, which announced its name in Turkey through interfaith dialogue and Abant Meetings. Saturdays Friday and Saturday evenings, the Panorama program was broadcast on Moral FM radio, where he worked as a manager and programmer until 1995, and he was doing a radio program where he shared his ideas about Turkey and the world agenda with Haluk Imamoglu, Omar Faruk Uysal and Safa Mürsel.

‘I WANT TO BE TRIED WITHOUT ARREST AND DIE IN TURKEY’
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his classmate from Imam Hatip High School; Usak and Erdoğan’s friendship was based on many years. Cemal Usak, a member of the Wise People’s Delegation created in the Solution Process, became one of the target people in the operations launched for the Hizmet Movement after the December 17-25 process. Cemal Usak, who was being treated for pancreatic cancer abroad, said in his last interview that he was very sorry that he was prevented from returning to his beloved homeland to continue his treatment in Turkey. He asked them to convey his desire to the highest level of the state that ‘I want to be tried without arrest and die in Turkey’. But few had returned. Some of his friends said to him, ‘Don’t come, you’ll be arrested and spend your last days in a dungeon.’

ERDOGAN ASKED ABOUT HIS STATE OF HEALTH CONFIDENTIONALlY
The butler said that very few of his close friends around the government were looking for him during his illness and expatriation days. It was also reflected in the press that Bilal Erdogan, who called him with his mother Emine Hanım, conveyed his wishes and asked for the memory of the state of Cemal Usak, whom he called ‘uncle’. Stating that Bilal Erdogan occasionally asks his mutual friends about his illness and receives information, Cemal Usak said, ‘He has become one of the most loyal among them.’ he said. Nazif Apak, a writer for the Yeni Hayat newspaper, carried Usak’s experiences to his column.

Apak’s article published in Yeni Hayat with the title “I will die in my country-if you come, we will arrest you” (July 14, 2016) was as follows:

“He was hafiz in his childhood. His journey of the Qur’an, which began in Bursa İnegol, continued in Istanbul. His paths with Tayyip Erdogan intersected here.
They studied in the same class together at Imam Hatip. Erdogan chose the path of politics for himself; he got to know Risale-i Nur and walked through the road opened by Master Bediuzzaman.

And in the following years, they always met. How could they not meet! Their child, Bilal’s friend, they meet in the family. A few years ago, when the ‘peace process’ was called and a route was set out, Erdogan thought, ‘Let’s put him among the smart people.’ he says. Truly wise men. He is not only a smart person, but also pious. Erdogan used to call him Brother’, once upon a time. He is a wise person who carries friendship and gives peace to every assembly he enters.
The human resources of this country immediately understood that I was talking about Cemal Usak. Almost every segment of the society knows him and sympathizes. However, he (like many other people) is accused of being a member of a terrorist organization. They dared to label an intellectual who had never hurt people for once in his life as ‘terrorist’. Those who call a person/persons a terrorist who has sacrificed his life to social peace and intercultural dialogue either do not know the meaning of terrorism; or they use the media and legal mechanism that they have turned into a lie machine relentlessly, brutally.

Cemal Usak has been fighting cancer for several years. When this painful news was first heard, everyone hugged the phone, some rushed to the hospital, some sent messages. He had received the lesson of wisdom from his Master, who said,’ Faith requires oneness, oneness requires submission, submission requires reliance and the happiness of two worlds, ‘ and he was also ready for disease and for death. He always comforted those who called to console him. His usual warm voice, brotherhood-filled approach became a source of morale for his friends.

Bilal also called his brother Cemal. There were respectful memories of the past in his sad voice. Only the former classmate did not call him. When the crisis of private teaching institutions came out, the person who said ” Brother Cemal, let’s fix the relations between the Cemaat and us.” now publicly expressed the slander against the Cemaat, applauded the unlawful actions aimed at destroying the entire mass with hateful words.

Brother Cemal had also taken his share of the injustice caused by that anger. Aside from seeing a lot of people saying ‘get well’ while struggling with cancer, a lawsuit had been filed against Mr. Cemal. A decision has been made to arrest this beautiful person on the charge of ‘membership of a terrorist organization’ who has become an advanced cancer patient and is under constant treatment. He was followed like a rebel, his addresses were raided.

And one day, he was leaving his country in tears. His treatment was incomplete, he was weakened during chemotherapy, his immune system began to collapse. There was nothing important in his file , just like the other files. And there was no concrete crime, just like it happened to thousands of people. Hatred  had taken the law captive, cruelty had put the cone of justice on his head.

There were those who repeatedly said  ‘he ran away’ , but everyone knew that the real story of this country, from the right to the left, from the religious to the irreligious, is the history of the exiled intellectuals.

As the disease progressed, his longing for Turkey also became unbearable for Mr. Cemal . He sent word with his lawyers. Visits were made, through lawyers. The following message of Cemal was sent to everyone: ‘Let me come, I will die in my country.’Influential officials said: ‘Don’t come, we’ll arrest you, you’ll breathe your last breath in the dungeons.’ 

The order was from a big place. It was from the place where the loyalty ended; that is, from the place where friendship became a prisoner of hatred, from the place where the law was suspended, where cruelty took on the pelt of justice. Cemal  welcomed this relentless persecution with a bitter smile…

Let it never be forgotten that one day the history of the brutality of this country will be written. ‘Brother Cemal’ will take his place in one of the most memorable pages of that history. And today’s haughtiness will not know what to do from shame on that day…”

Cemal Uşşak answered the terrorism charge against him with a letter he sent to his journalist writer friend Hasan Cemal as follows:

There is a letter from Cemal Usak: ‘I was a member of a terrorist organization’!

I don’t remember such an intolerable government to dissent and criticism, except for the period of the coup of September 12.

I have a letter from my dear colleague and friend Cemal Usak. Cemal Usak, who is the Chairman of the Journalists and Writers Foundation, has been wanted for some time. As for the accusation against him:

Membership of an armed terrorist organization.

As part of the main investigation of the” Fethullah Terrorist Organization / Parallel State Structure”, a decision has been made to arrest him.

I’m taking the letter he wrote to me exactly to my column.

*  *  *

“Mr. President, why can’t our old friend tolerate even a wiggling of the opposition? I don’t remember such an intolerable power to dissent and criticism, except for the September 12 period”

Dear Hasan Camal;

I would like to talk to you with a few words by taking your precious time on the situation I am in and the state of my hometown.

As you know very well, our country is going through a period of Mental Retardation with the lightest expression.

If You Remember;

You and I, as well as many (different sections of) writers;

During the first two periods of the government;

Who fervently defends the reforms of the European Union and transfers them to our country…

Who embraces all the citizens of the country with the Kurdish-Turkish, Alawite-Sunni, Muslim-Non-Muslim and everyone…

Making breakthroughs under human rights and freedoms…

We wholeheartedly supported the AKP government.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t regret at all what I wrote and talked about that period.

Everything happened after 2010, when the AKP government believed that it had defeated the establishment.

Now, according to the public statement of the Head of the Istanbul Province, they no longer needed liberals and others who were “together” during the construction period. They were the ones who knew everything about the rule(!) They didn’t need anyone’s opinion either.

The reason of the defeat we are exposed to in the international arena today and the situation we’ve been through is the excessive self-confidence

May October 29, 2015, Bank Asya was confiscated during the investigation process of the alleged’ Fethullah Terrorist Organization’; established on October 24, 1996 under the name’ Asya Finans’. Istanbul Mayor Tayyip Erdogan, Deputy Prime Minister Tansu Çiller, Ministers of State Reza Akçalı, Abdullah Gul and Fethullah Gulen held the opening ceremony together (from left to right)

Unfortunately, the view of Turkey from the outside is as follows:

We are just a few steps away  from the authoritarian Middle Eastern countries that we try to clean up, but we encounter failure every time we try.

You know better than me that Can Dundar, Erdem Gul, Hidayet Karaca, Mehmet Baransu and many of our colleagues (more than 30) are behind the bars.

Many of our colleagues and citizens are being prosecuted for ‘insulting ‘ the President.

I don’t remember that so many defamation lawsuits have been filed against any President.

If these cases are really based on ‘insults’, shouldn’t we ask why so many people insult the President…

If not, if it’s just democratic criticism, Mr. President, why can’t our old friend tolerate the slightest stir of opposition?

As you know, governments exist in every regime. And the legitimate and realistic opposition exists only in democracies.

In the words of the late Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, the “legitimate opposition” is the balance for justice.

In the old days, we had a state of law, even if it was not functioning very well.

Over the past five years, we have had a STATE of LAW that contradicts EU norms and international laws, especially the Constitution.

Now no one cares about it either.

As my friends like you know, I have been undergoing cancer treatment for close to two years.

And when I heard about the arrest decision about me, I was abroad as a continuation of my treatment.

I was a “member of a terrorist organization”.

Just like Can Dundar and the others.

You and I have nothing but a pen and a word in our tongue.

However, there is also a significant crime of our colleagues who are behind bars, and me :

To be a bit of an opponent.

During my cancer treatment, which has been going on for close to two years, I have felt that I have repeatedly come close to that inevitable truth called death.

My main concern is the sad situation that my country is exposed to beyond myself.

At my age, I remember very well what has been happening in our political life since 1965 and the attitude of the authorities.

I don’t remember such an intolerable government to dissent and criticism, except for the period of the coup of September 12

I think it has a significant effect on the evolution of the Kurdish Problem, which you know better than me, to the point where we have come to today, that the Kurds have experienced the feeling that they have been deceived many times in history.

In 2013, in Nowruz, Diyarbakir, I saw with my eyes how Öcalan’s message, which can be read as a Farewell to Weapons, echoed in the audience of 1.5 million; I heard it with my ears.

No matter what anyone says, the “majority of Kurds want peace and tranquility.

It’s been 2 years now.

Every day, martyrdom news and “neutralized” terrorist numbers fill the TV screens.

And the Kurds feel “DECEIVED” by the fact that what they were promised was set aside.

Is it just the Kurds?

I, who was born from a Black Sea father and a Turkmen mother, feel DECEIVED.

This AKP is not the AKP that you and I supported from 2002 to 2010.

During the period when Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan was banned, he said for himself, “This song doesn’t end like this!”. This needs to change a little:

“This song shouldn’t have ended like this!”

Was the situation in which he left our country worth it for the sake of power?

Greetings, love,

Cemal Usak

Chairman of the Journalists and Writers Foundation

WORKS: Prophetic Homesickness (1983), The Caravan of Virtue (1985), Ways of Success (1986), The Way of the Prophet (1988), Encyclopedia of Companions (1989, joint) Holy Koran Translation (1989, joint), Relations between State and the Religion in the World (2002).

RESOURCES:

https://t24.com.tr/yazarlar/hasan-cemal/cemal-usaktan-mektup-var-teror-orgutu-uyesi-imisim,13674

http://www.shaber3.com/web-tv/birakin-ulkemde-oleyim-diyen-cemal-ussak-gurbette-hakka-yurudu-20315-video-haberi/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4H8RSOjzzk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPVvN2-nmys&t=4s

https://zamanaustralia.com/2016/08/cemal-usak-vefat-etti/

RESOURCES:

http://www.shaber3.com/web-tv/birakin-ulkemde-oleyim-diyen-cemal-ussak-gurbette-hakka-yurudu-20315-video-haberi/

https://zamanaustralia.com/2016/08/cemal-usak-vefat-etti/

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