Portraits of Peace

Portraits of Peace, a project initiated by P24 to carve space in our collective memory for 103 people who were killed at the suicide bombing targeting the Peace Demonstration in Ankara on October 10, 2015, has now been published in book form. The book includes portraits of 85 people penned by 62 authors and, as its explanatory title says, it offers an attempt to provide “A Glimpse to Lives We Lost on October 10, 2015.”

Portraits of Peace is also the first book published under P24’s Memory Library collection. It was edited by Evin Barış Altıntaş, Metin Yener, Murat Şevki Çoban, Özlem Altunok, Seçil Epik, Sibel Oral, Veysel Ok, and Yasemin Çongar. The design was made by Bülent Erkmen. In a note to the book, the editors expressed gratitude to the many authors who participated in the project. “This book is the product of the relatives who accepted to tell the story of their loved ones who died in the massacre and those who listened and wrote these stories,” the note said. “With utmost respect for the victims, we are thankful to everyone who joined our endeavor to keep their memory alive.

Below is the introduction to Portraits of Peace: A Glimpse to Lives We Lost on October 10, 2015:

We decided to write the portraits in this book on October 10, 2015. A silent question was stuck like a lump in our throat the moment we saw the first images from the massacre in Ankara: What can we do? What can we do after those who were massacred at the square where they went to call for peace with singing and dances? What can we do other than gaping with pain and anger?

We came to an answer after talking to each other and made it public on October 13, 2015:

“We want to know each person we lost individually. They all have a story made of endeavors, yearnings, heartbreaks, and joy, for which we want to carve some space in our collective memory. We feel indebted to people cut off from this life while calling for peace. We feel that reclaiming their memory was a way to reclaim life and strive for peace against the murderers. We think the only way to prevent new massacres and heal was by remembering collectively instead of forgetting.”

Portraits of Peace was born from a desire to learn who the victims were and a debt of gratitude. It means showing respect for life and memory and expressing our wish that such massacres do not happen again. It is also an attempt to heal through testimony of pain and hope – by sharing the pain with others and expanding hope. So, a few days after our brothers and sisters killed at the Ankara Train Station were buried under the earth, we started to visit their homes and villages, meet their families, and express our condolences.

When the first portrait was published on our website on November 10, 2015, we also made this promise:

“As the seasons pass, and hopefully, this blood-stained climate changes with them, we will continue to publish new portraits each day, each week, and each month.”

Two years have passed, and seasons have changed, but this blood-stained climate remains. We still believe peace will ultimately win over this climate, yet it has not prevailed. Murders have not stopped since October 10, 2015. War, coup, and oppression killed more people again and again. From Cizre to the Bosphorus Bridge, from Güven Park to Sur, we continued to bleed and die.

As these events unfolded and people tried to cope with violence, destruction, and oppression, P24 carried on its mission to remember the victims of the Ankara Massacre. This book contains the stories of the lives of 85 victims. All 85 stories are told by 62 authors who participated in this project voluntarily. Each of them met with the families or relatives of the victims, visited their homes, and met with open-heartedness.

Some portraits are missing. Some families chose not to expose their pain; we respected their intimacy. There were others we could not reach, no matter how much we tried. At the end of the book, we commemorate every single Ankara Massacre victim whose story is missing. We commit to completing the missing portraits and telling their stories, too, if or when their families or relatives change their minds.

Portraits of Peace was written over a relatively long period, from the fall of 2015 to the fall of 2017. Each portrait in the book is listed in chronological order. Although each story focuses on a single person’s life, we were surprised to note that when they are read together, the story they tell is, in fact, the shared story of our lives.

Evin Barış Altıntaş, Metin Yener, Murat Şevki Çoban, Özlem Altunok, Seçil Epik, Sibel Oral, Veysel Ok, Yasemin Çongar

İstanbul, Ekim 2017

Authors who contributed to Portraits of Peace:

Ahmet Altan, Arife Köse, Aslı Tohumcu, Asuman Susam, Aytül Fırat, Banu Tuna, Barış Avşar, Behçet Çelik, Burcu Karakaş, Can Gürses, Can Kartoğlu, Cafer Solgun, Emel Gülcan, Emine Algan, Emrah Tuncer, Emre Ayvaz, Ercüment Akdeniz, Ertan Altan, Evin Barış Altıntaş, Eylem Yılmaz, Fatih Polat, Gökçer Tahincioğlu, Hakkı Özdal, Halil Türkden, Hasan Cemal, Hatice Kapusuz, Hazal Özvarış, İrfan Aktan, Jînda Zekioğlu, Leyla Alp, Mehmet Said Aydın, Murat Şevki Çoban, Murat Özyaşar, Mustafa İşitmez, Nevin Sungur, Nilgün Yılmaz, Özlem Akcan, Özlem Ertan, Özlem Altunok, Pelin Başaran, Pınar Yiğitoğulları, Rabia Çetin, Rengin Arslan, Sanem Altan, Seçil Epik, Seçkin Sağlam, Sedat Yılmaz, Serkan Ayazoğlu, Şenay Aydemir, Şiar Risvanoğlu, Sezin Öney, Sibel Oral, Sibel Yükler, Şükran Lılek Yılmaz, Tayfun Ertan, Tuğba Kaplan, Tuğba Tekerek, Veysel Ok, Yasemin Çongar, Yonca Poyraz Doğan, Yılmaz Murat Bilican, Zehra Onat.

You can click this link to download the original Turkish version of the book and access its content.

First Edition: 2017