Our story is also somebody else’s story, and somebody else’s story is also our story. They are a subset of each other, intertwining and intersecting over space and time. We have no idea who is doing what at the moment that would change our life entirely or vice versa. We only know when it happens. And this is the story of Ufuk, Cengiz and Melih who all live the same life in different circles.
Ufuk’s story
It all started when Ufuk got a letter from the mailman on a beautiful autumn day in Ankara. The day was beautiful because earlier that week his wife, Rüya, had told him she was pregnant. A baby that was expected to arrive months later had already brought to Ufuk and his wife a pleasure that they had never experienced before. And – this coincided with a promotion in the office where he was working as an economist for a consulting firm. Ufuk just thought, sometimes things go good, other times they may go bad. This is a scale that God keeps in a person. There are miraculous times when all things go fine. Truly fine! Not so to speak! And that day, falling in such a period of his life, prompted nothing but a precious sense of satisfaction.
The letter came from the public prosecutor. It said that he would be prosecuted for the alleged crime of being a member of an armed terrorist organization. For a second, Ufuk thought that there must be a mistake. Maybe the letter was given to him in error; the addressee was a neighbor or somebody else. But when he doublechecked the details, it was his full name and ID number on the document. There was no doubt that the letter was addressed to him. Still, Ufuk was sure that something was wrong. He didn’t tell his wife about the letter and, on the following day, visited the police department that had summoned him to give a statement. However, the police officers didn’t tell him anything about the case and asked him to wait for a week to provide the statement in the presence of the prosecutor.
This entire week, Ufuk told his wife nothing and pretended that everything was as usual, although she sensed something was amiss. Ufuk was quite anxious on the morning of his appointment with the prosecutor. Rüya wished Ufuk good luck and said she had no concern whatsoever that her husband would get over what he had been anxious about all week. This was, indeed, her gentle way of not scrutinizing a matter which he hadn’t mention himself.
As he went to the Court House, an ugly building in the center of Ankara, the prosecutor’s clerk took him to the statement hall. The prosecutor entered the room and took his seat, while the clerk asked Ufuk to stand up behind the bar during the process. He did so. After some procedural questions, the prosecutor zeroed in on the point:
“It was reported to us that you were harshly criticizing the government and defending some people who were plotting terrorism.”
He was astonished by what the prosecutor said and replied:
“I strongly reject the claim, sir. I have never supported overthrowing the government by unconstitutional means. There must be a misunderstanding.”
“Ok, I understand you. People often criticize the government. This is what democracy is about and we live in a democratic country. So, you definitely have the right to support a change. There are many opposition parties that do exactly what you were reported to do. We have no objection to them.”
“Then, why am I here?” Ufuk asked with suppressed anger.
“Well, Ufuk. We don’t charge you with a crime based on just a report to us. We investigated a little further.”
“So?”
“So!” he laughed sarcastically. “We have some modules to check people’s engagement with terrorism. After you were reported, we processed your personal data within this module. We realized that you have stayed with convicted terrorist organization members in the same hotel on certain dates, and went abroad with some others on the same airplane. And you have had many calls with people affiliated with terrorist organizations. Besides…” – he stopped for a moment to check the documents on the table and continued, “You have visited some banned websites and the geotracking and patterns of your smartphone show that there is a link between you and criminals. Considering that you are not a lawyer or any sort of law enforcement officer, there is no reasonable explanation for your connection with these guys.”
As he completed his words, Ufuk was shocked at what he was accused of and replied astonishingly:
“Sir, are any of these matters proof of being a member of a terrorist organization?”
“Honestly speaking, no,” he said.
“Then, why am I being indicted for this?”
“Well, even if these points alone do not prove that you are a member of a terrorist organization, they become proof when they are assembled.”
“Assembled?”
“Yes,” he said. “When these parts are assembled together, they form solid evidence that you are a member of a terrorist organization. Your score is high enough to make us believe so.”
“Score? But, how do you calculate it?”
“We don’t bother with it. Our office uses a computer with a massive processor and it instantly determines a person’s affiliation with terrorism. For instance, your score is 83, which is high enough to have reasonable doubt.”
“Did you just rely on artificial intelligence to indict me on terrorism.”
“No! We also have our own intelligence,” he smiled. “We don’t run ordinary people‘s names in this software. Believe me; this computer would calculate the entire Turkish nation’s score in half a day. But that would be unfair and harm people’s confidence in justice. We do it only when a concrete report arrives in our office noting somebody’s connection to terrorism. And we don’t, of course, act on a single report; rather, we cross-check it with the computer processing system. You can call it the verification of somebody else’s report through cutting-edge software processing systems.”
The prosecutor stopped for a while and slowly swivelled on his seat. He looked directly into Ufuk’s eyes and continued: “There is a guy, Ufuk, who told law enforcement that you are a member of a terrorist organization.”
“But that is unfair,” Ufuk insisted again.
“Well, we will see after the trial. You are lucky that I will not have you arrested right now,” he said and left the room.
Ufuk returned home, his mind confused; a little bit sad but not depressed. He was confident that something was wrong with this case and he would eventually be acquitted. But even so, it was a challenge to his tranquil life. He had no option but to share it with his wife in the evening. When he did so, Rüya laughed and placated him: “You little Kafkaesque protagonist; let’s think about this bad guy slandering you now; I will consult some lawyers on the case. You will be acquitted for sure!”
For a month, he thought about who reported him to the police. He got a call from Cengiz, one of Ufuk’s close old friends. Cengiz invited him to lunch. As Ufuk shared this invitation with Rüya, she smiled and said, “Let’s see how the cookie crumbles!”
(…to be continued…)
Transadaptation Volume 4 – Material Dissent
January: A Blinding Light and Then, All Darkness – Jonay Quintero Hernández (Spain)
February: The Opportunist – Lauren Voaden (United Kingdom)
March: A Stranger in my City – Alejandra Baccino (Uruguay)
April: A South African Soundtrack – Sarah-Leah Pimentel (South Africa)
May: Full Circle – Ina Maria Vogel (Germany)
June: La Lluvia en Bogotá – Adriana Uribe (Columbia)
July: Freedom – Krisztina Janosi (Hungary)
August: A Bus Ride – Svetlana Molchanova (Russia)
September: Transcendence – Armine Asryan (Nane Sevunts) (Armenia)
October: Motherhood – Marilin Guerrero Casas (Cuba)
November: Nine Days – Gennady Bondarenko (Ukraine)
December: Open – Seyit Ali Dastan (Turkey)
Background – Context
Transadaptation Volume 3: Evanescent – Young Adulthood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2022)
Transadaptation Volume 2: Conceived – Childhood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2021)
Transadaptation Volume 1: In the Middle – Prelude to a Contemporary Transadaptation, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2020)
Peripatetic Alterity: A Philosophical Treatise on the Spectrum of Being – Romantics and Pragmatists by Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2019)
La Syncrétion of Polarization and Extremes Transposée, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2019)
The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2018)
L’anthologie of Global Instability Transpuesta, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2017)
From Wahnsinnig to the Loony Bin: German and Russian Stories Transposed to Modern-day America, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2013)
Emblems and stories on the international community
Perception by country – Transposing emblems, articles, short stories and reports from around the world
Credits
1. Left column (top to bottom): Ankara, Turkey – Kizilay – Ozges Temur (Shutterstock), Ankara, Turkey – The historical quarter – Sun_Shine (Shutterstock), 2. Middle column (top to bottom): Ankara, Turkey – From the 50th Year Park – Çağlar Oskay (Unsplash), Ankara, Turkey – Art meets architecture – Merve Selcuk Simsek (unsplash), Ankara, Turkey – Kizilaz neighborhood – Fabrizio (Shutterstock), 3. Right column (top to bottom): Ankara, Turkey – Kizilay square – Fatir (Shutterstock), Ankara, Turkey – Hamamönü neighborhood – Fabrizio (Shutterstock)
Source: The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed