Without letting go of appropriateness

There is a time and place for everything. Anything done outside of its proper place and time comes across as inappropriate. No quality, no refinement can issue from inappropriateness. Especially if you claim to represent a civilization, a strong society, or a great country, and yet inappropriateness has become a behavioral quality, these claims are not even laughed at; they are merely pitied.

Playing the tambourine and dancing during a time of mourning is insolence. Standing around solemnly with a sour face at a picnic or festivity is stupidity.

It seems that one of the areas where we exhibit our problems as a nation is that we severely confuse these places and times. Whatever differences exist among them, certain moments leave no room or propriety for anyone to do something different. These moments offer good opportunities even for people at odds with each other to grant a chance for a new relationship.

Feasts, for instance. Having and being able to have a shared feast that brings everyone together is one of a country's greatest sources of strength. Turkey undoubtedly has such feasts. Even if there are those who fail to properly appreciate the value of these feasts or fail to sufficiently benefit from the opportunities these days offer… What if these feasts didn't exist at all? How terrifying it is even to think about it…

What transpired during the funeral ceremony after the Council of State attack or due to the double murder at the İsmailağa Mosque demonstrated how eroded and devoid of propriety our culture of mourning and condolence has become. The fact that people at the highest levels of the state encouraged these inappropriate behaviors revealed the true magnitude of the gravity.

The reactions—or lack thereof—to Orhan Pamuk receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature show that our culture of congratulations is also dragging on the floor. The Nobel Prize undoubtedly has a very controversial history and style that leaves room for much criticism, but no rational person can deny the value of this award in the literary world. This prize has often been awarded to unexpected people at unexpected times, and in many instances, it has even caused trouble for the recipients. Perhaps in Nobel history, no one has prepared for this prize from the very beginning by aiming for it and working for it as much as Pamuk. These preparations pushed Pamuk into strange political stances and discourses from time to time. On the occasion of his novel *Snow*, he had explicitly desired attacks from Islamists, but the attack he expected never came. Thereupon, it is impossible to forget the oddity in Pamuk's behavior of going from channel to channel self-reporting, saying, "Islamists will be angry with me for what I wrote."

What he did during the promotion of his novels in this manner considerably overshadowed the quality of his novels. However, no matter what, his winning the targeted award has produced a story of absolute success that amply deserves congratulations. The only appropriate behavior at this hour is congratulation. To neglect to congratulate, especially while the prize he clearly brought to Turkish literature as someone writing in Turkish and writing about Turkey stands in the middle, and to bring a record of insulting Turkishness to the fore—isn't this the main great insult that deems nothing but inappropriateness fit for Turkishness?

Orhan Pamuk received this award thanks to the literature he produced as a Turk in Turkish. Nothing could be more natural than there being things in this literature that many Turks do not like. Because whether we like it or not, the main factor enabling someone to deserve an award is nothing other than a difference.

Of course, while knowing how to congratulate at the time of congratulation, one must not neglect to know very well that receiving a Nobel Prize does not confer innocence or immunity from criticism to anyone for what they have written or said. Especially just because Orhan Pamuk received his award, one must refrain from sanctifying the Nobel as an appreciation and award mechanism immune to all errors and from condemning all criticisms regarding the Nobel.

At the appropriate time, Orhan Pamuk will continue to be criticized for what he writes, and the Nobel for its appreciations and actions, but without losing propriety, and without holding back from congratulating at the time of congratulation.