Botan Times EnglishThe Hammer of Existence, Kurds, and Dasein of Turkey

There is much discussion about philosophy and Heidegger at Turkish universities. Some accuse him of being a follower of orders and murders, others praise his perfect poetry. For short, our subject is not Martin Heidegger himself. Our focus is the hammer that is deeply embedded in his philosophy and the existential potential that comes with that hammer. To make the title more understandable, firstly I should talk about the terms, but first about the hammer.

Although Heidegger uses “hammer” to describe the current situation, as well as the hammer restrain the subject -with the hammer firmly in hand- that one can observe the subject’s need for the hammer. In order for hammer and blow to become a goal and for an action to be theoretically and practically established for it, the possibility of the existence of Dasein [1] also comes into play.

There have been written many things about the Kurds and many attempts have been made to reveal their existence. In almost every period, Turkey has either rebuilt or strengthened its place thanks to the presence of the Kurds. The music, culture, food, language, religion, art, history, and many other things of the Kurds are exploited by the authorities. Those authorities claim that the ‘hammer’, that is, they hold the aces of Kurds, but still, the Kurds are dasein of Turkey and the Middle East. In this context, it seems that Turkey cannot have dasein without recognizing the existence of the Kurds. If Turkey and Middle East want to have a dasein, they should understand the importance of the Kurds. During the so-called peace process, Turkey’s economy improved and this was a small example of the dasein of the Kurds.

Wars, elections, forced economic investments, education, etc., whatever upgrades this country, everything is there thanks to the presence of Kurds. Although many works have been written about Heidegger’s philosophy of existence and it has been the subject of many discussions, it is not possibe to fit them all into such a short paper, however, I wanted to show that the hammer is an important element of existence. Although in this philosophy the hammer is presented as a tool for the formation of existence, in reality, the hammer is more powerful than the subject who holds in its hand. We cannot talk about the real existence of the countries where the Kurds have not totally gained their rights.

This news was translated by Yonca Sarsilmaz