A tale of moral collapse

The recent rape and abduction of a young Syrian girl ought to lead us to question the moral collapse our society has undergone in the past couple of years.

Ümit Kıvanç author@duvarenglish.com

Once upon a time, a refugee family in Turkey rents an apartment belonging to C.Ç.'s parents. C.Ç. is a 35-year old man. He likes the Syrian family's daughter. The girl is 13 years old. Beyond liking her, he desires her.

Does the prospect of sleeping with a 13-year not seem problematic for C.Ç? Most would think so. As does the girl's father.

Intuitively, one would not expect society to support C.Ç. Yet C.Ç. is confident no one listens to the girl's father. And the father will not dare object to the will of the majority, in a country where he is a guest.

C.Ç. goes up to him and aks his girl's hand.

"My daughter is only a child", the Syrian father says.

What does C.Ç. do? Does he go back, cursing his destiny, wandering the streets at night, kicking empty soda cans? Or does he sit on rocks, on a hill, in a park, pitying himself and listening to loud arabesque music, reminiscing their shared days?

But what shared days one may ask? Despite the father's refusal, C.Ç. wants to start the process of the "shared days". On a day when her parents aren't home, C.Ç. takes the girl out, puts her in car and drives. Where to?

C.Ç takes the girl to the home of "a relative", as we read on Independent Turkish. According to Can Bursalı's reporting, the lawyer of the Syrian family told the paper the "first exploitation happened there".

What kind of a person is C.Ç.'s relative? He's probably a decent citizen right?

His relative didn't ask C.Ç. what the hell was going on. He didn't ask "Who's the kiddie?" Even if he wasn't at home, he must have given a key to C.Ç. If he was at home, he is a witness to the act.

Whether the relative was inside or not, the "first exploitation" happens: C.Ç. rapes the 13-year old daughter of his Syrian tenants.

Does he feel any discomfort or guilt while doing it? Obviously not. On the contrary, it seems like male pride has filled his veins, reinforcing his lust.

C.Ç. is happy the way things are. He takes the girl to Sinop, his hometown. According to the lawyer, C.Ç. "withholds the Syrian child there for 15 days".

One question arises though: why did the girl not do more to defend herself? Because she is the child of a refugee family, that is, C.Ç. hit her where she was the weakest. He threatened to deport her family.

Upon hearing about this, C.Ç.'s parents, the landlords of the Syrian family whose little daughter was abused, call the family and warn them: "You will stay quiet. If anyone hears we will have you deported. We have friends in high places, our relatives are police".

In such a situation, the abuser can decide to love or dismiss - just because the other party is a refugee.

As those in the position to "love or dismiss", this tale ought to lead to us to question to moral collapse our society has undergone in the past few years.

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