The Village Institutes Research and Education Development Foundation

KAVEG

“Two Memories” / Mehmet Ali Küçükkayıkçı

MY TWO MEMORIES ABOUT YÜCEL AND TONGUÇ

In 1945 we graduated from “Hasanoğlan Village Institute”. We could reach our village only in November, due to economic reasons. In the period of waiting to returned to our village, we as three collegues, invited the Director of Primary Education İsmail Hakkı TONGUÇ to our class. One afternoon the General Director came suddenly in our class. We started to explain the difficulties that we would face when we arrived to the village. He listened what we all said carefully and answered as:

 “My sons, you will go to the village on horse, by car, plow or else. Yo will not have all these difficulties in life term. You must be a good example to the others with these modern vehicles. Although we keep telling our villagers to use modern agricultural vehicles, they will stil kepp using tumbrel, plow or else.”

We understood beter what our the General Director told when we got the results of the vehicles we had taken to the village. Before three months passe, the number of horses, cars and plows increased, and the car horns begun to heard on streets.

Everone in the village started to use plows instead of grubber. The statements in the document that I found in the local authorithy’s archive in the following years, were the proof of evidence what we had been through. In 1934 the villages’ headman was complained to Atatürk and Atatürk sent an inspector to investigate. As a result of this investigation the inspector recorded the social situation of the village in his report as follows:

“Since the republic is established, there has no improvement in the village. The agricultural tools that they use are stil very primitive such as oxx puller, plow and ox…”

When he was a student at the Village Institute, one of the istructor trainees İsa BAŞKAYA, caught malaria and passed away. The Minister of Education Hasan Ali YÜCEL immidiately came for burrial ceramony. YÜCEL gave a speech for the Village Institute at the ceremony:

My chilldren, the mosquito that carry Malaria Tropica Parasit, caused İsa Başkaya’s death, lives in swamps. You will settle in villages. You will dry these swamps that mosquitoes live in, with the cooperation with villagers. He said “you will save thousands of people like İsa Başkaya who left us in his most productive age from this disaster disease” and added: Once up on a time, Ferhat loves a girl called Şirin. He starts to digg a mountain with pickaxe and shovel which is impossible to cross over the mountain. People ask why he is digging the mountain. Ferhat answers as” to meet his loved one behind the mountain”. Then they tell him that his life won’t be long enough to digg a whole in to this mountain. Ferhat answers as My idealogy to die on this path. 

So Yücel said “Dear Children our idealogy also to die on this path.” The path meant the Turkish Republic.

I never forget these two memories about these great people.

Mehmet Ali KÜÇÜKKAYIKCI

Hasanoğlan Village Institute – Graduated 1945

It can not be cited, copied or published without permission.

“İki Anı” / Mehmet Ali Küçükkayıkçı