TRT Former Announcer Sırrı Er: “April 23: A Holiday or a Matter of Conscience”

I am speaking to you with the sorrow of not being able to experience the holiday as a true celebration, friends.

April 23…
National Sovereignty and Children’s Day.
A day that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk dedicated to children, a day that should be remembered with hope…

Not every child grows up…
Not every young person reaches their dreams…

Berkin Elvan, Eren Bülbül, Nahit Emre, Rabia Naz Vatan, Narin Güran, Ahmet Minguzzi, and recently in the armed attack at Ayser Çalık Middle School, 1 teacher, 8 students who lost their lives, 17 injured children, and the attacker who also died. Mustafa Aslan, Şûrânur Sevgi Kazıcı, Zeynep Kılınç, Furkan Sancak Balal, Bayram Nâbi Şişik, Belinay Nur Poyraz, Adnan Göktürk Yeşil, Kerem Erdem Güngör.

And…
A father who is labeled as “the other,” whose name is deliberately avoided, who spent 1758 days in prison and was only recently reunited with his son, a former police officer labeled as a #KHK victim. His heartbreaking outcry became a topic of discussion: “You put me in prison calling me a terrorist, and now my child was killed by the son of those who claim to love the homeland.” This refers to 10-year-old Yusuf Tarık Gül.

They are symbols of unfinished lives,
of unheard screams…
Where did we go wrong?

Children, women, young people, the elderly are being killed.
I am deeply saddened.

April 23 is not just a holiday.
It is a day of conscience.
A day of reckoning.
We must be a society that protects children, listens to the youth, and defends life.

Happy April 23.

But above all, may it be the holiday of children who are able to live.

Let us give the world to children, if only for one day / let us give it like a colorful balloon / let them play / let them play singing folk songs among the stars.
Nazım Hikmet

#ourchildren

Bayramı bayram gibi yaşayamamanın hüznüyle sizlere sesleniyorum, dostlar.

23 Nisan…
Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayramı.
Gâzi Mustafa Kemâl Atatürk’ün çocuklara armağan ettiği, umutla anılması gereken bir gün…

Her çocuk büyüyemiyor…
Her genç hayallerine ulaşamıyor…

Berkin… pic.twitter.com/L1C4w7mwNw

— Sırrı Er (@konusmasanati) April 22, 2026

Kaynak: Sırrı Er @konusmasanati