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[일반] June 14, 2008 Turkish Daily News/Turks at Pusan

  • Writeradmin
  • Date2008-07-16 16:41:19
  • Count3601

Turks at Pusan
Saturday, June 14, 2008



Yusuf KANLI

Ahmets, Mehmets, Hasans… Georges, Bruces, Williams, Johns, Perrys, Thomases… It is a long list of names engraved on a granite wall erected in memory of the thousands of sons sent by mothers from 16 countries some 58 years ago… They were the heroes who fought and sacrificed their lives for the upholding of international law, resisting aggression in Korea, and in upholding the cause of peace and freedom and in helping South Korea defend its independence.

We lost 1,005 of our sons in the Korean War.

Some were repatriated in body bags. Many are resting in the bosom of a country they fought and sacrificed their lives for. And, they are treated like true heroes.

At the Turkish ceremony

On arrival at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Pusan the custodian of the cemetery, a retired Korean ambassador, gave a lengthy briefing which included his complaints that the growing city was advancing too fast toward the cemetery, and that tall buildings, as well as the facilities of a sports club, have started to overshadow the memorial cemetery and the park. The some 35-acre cemetery and park, however, appeared to me very much like an oasis in a forest of concrete buildings that were reflecting the advance of South Korea over the past decades.

Walking on the marble road leading to the Turkish quarter of the cemetery, I noticed groups of people wearing green belts cleaning the place as if they were worshipping. They were working in total silence. As we were passing through, one of them silently asked the custodian of the cemetery-who was kind enough to offer to escort me on a tour of the memorial park-who I was. When the custodian said I came from Turkey, the silent group burst into applause and started to chant "Long liveTurkey... Welcome Turk..." At the 2004 Olympics co-hosted by Korea and Japan we had indeed rediscovered the strong affection the Korean people felt toward Turks- and probably other nations that came to their help when they needed help-but this outburst of affection, which was repeated throughout my stay in Korea, made me feel even more indebted to those brave fallen sons.

The memorial cemetery and the park was so well kept, green and restful, our martyrs were accorded such respect that tears poured from my eyes in gratitude for all I saw there and out of pride to be able to visit, lay a wreath and bow in silence in memory of those fallen heroes. Listening that night at a dinner hosted in my honor by the Honorary Turkish Consul in Pusan, Park Sa-Ik, to how bravely they performed and died on the Kunuri battle front and elsewhere in trying to defend not only Korean independence but also soldiers of other countries that had joined the U.N. force, and seeing the shining smiles on the faces of people after the consul introduced me as “a friend from Turkey,” I realized once again at what a high cost the Korean-Turkish friendship was established, and the need to maintain and enhance such bonds between the two nations.

Turks did not just fight:

Back in Seoul, at a social gathering hosted in my honor by Chairman Sim Jae-Duk of the Turkish Korean Parliamentary Group-who is perhaps better known under his alias "Mr. Toilet" as he also is the chairperson of the World Toilet Association- I discovered that the Turkish military did not just fight on the war front during the Korean War but indeed engaged in social activities to such an extent that many war orphans, who are now in their 60s, say they owe their life to the Turks.

It was a shock for Mr. Toilet, who by the way lives in a splendid toilet-shaped villa in the Suwan neighborhood of Seoul, to discover in the middle of the night, when he went to pay the bill for a dinner we had had together, to discover that Oh Su-up, a man in his 60s who had sat silently all night next to us and listened to our conversations in full respect, had rushed in secrecy to pay for the dinner.

We learned the story later… Oh Su-up was one of some 60 orphans the Turkish military fed and provided education for during the war at an “Orphans quarter” established within the medical section of the Turkish military camp at Suwan…

“Please allow me to do at least this for our Turkish brothers,” he said. “As an orphan, I would not have been able to survive had I not been helped by the Turkish soldiers.” As he said so, there were tears in my eyes, in those of Mr. Toilet and in those of the rest who witnessed that touching moment.

It was a long-time dream and aspiration to visit the final resting place of our Korea martyrs and pay my respects. I returned comforted in myself that they are not resting in a foreign land. May they rest in peace.

(Yusuf Kanlı can be contacted at ykanli@hotmail.com or yusuf_kanli@yahoo.com)