In this thor­oug­ly ine­gal­i­tar­i­an Turk­ish soci­ety, chil­dren are affect­ed of course, as they always were. Notwith­stand­ing the nation­al­is­tic and big­ot­ed stance of the AKP’s lead­er­ship, Turkey has now moved on to shame­less and uncon­trolled liberalism.

From top to bot­tom of the social lad­der, inequal­i­ties abound and deep­en, and the social mobil­i­ty of Repub­li­can Kemal­ism no longer oper­ates in an econ­o­my where labor laws oppress the weak instead of pro­tect­ing them, and where the dom­i­nant class accu­mu­lates and financializes.

The street thus becomes the sur­vival econ­o­my where refugees and migrants from with­in or with­out the bor­ders com­pete and share pover­ty. Chil­dren are much in evi­dence there…

As encoun­tered, while browsing…

Freely adapt­ed from a short arti­cle by Fil­iz Zeyrek  pub­lished by JINNEWS.


We invit­ed our­selves out on the streets of Adana after school hours, in order to col­lect the dreams of chil­dren who are there to work. Some want to be doc­tors, oth­ers, teach­ers… The dreams are dif­fer­ent but all are sub­ject­ed to the same inequality.

Some wield brush­es, oth­ers sell lighters or beads… The objects they hold are dif­fer­ent, but their hands are the same.

You must hold the brush before you can put the pen­cil to the copybook. 

These chil­dren try to get through  school by cop­ing with the intri­ca­cies of the coun­try’s  unequal shar­ing of  well-being. Of course, no inequal­i­ty or injus­tice can keep them from dream­ing. While they work, the chil­dren don’t give up on their dreams.

The chil­dren we met invit­ed us into their world and con­fid­ed some of their wishes.

I will cure my father”

This is Ramazan speak­ing. He is 10 years old. He wants to be a doc­tor. Because his father is sick and must get bet­ter… Ramazan says he works most­ly on week-ends “because I must do my home­work on the oth­er days. I buy lighters and beads whole­sale and sell them at the bazar. Ramazan says he does not want to work with his fam­i­ly, “I always try to earn my own mon­ey. I will be a doc­tor and my father will get better.”

When I see uniforms, I make a quick getaway”

Besides the usu­al dan­gers in the street, Ramazan’s great­est fear is the munic­i­pal police: “I’m most afraid of the munic­i­pal police…because when they catch us, they con­fis­cate our goods, they cut us off and impound our goods. But…when I see badges, I run very fast and they nev­er catch me.”

We will have the best”

We meet shoeshine boys like Ömer who not only works week­ends with his two cousins but on week­days too. Ömer talks about the mon­ey he gives his moth­er, “My moth­er uses the mon­ey for my school fees. As I don’t like stay­ing at home, I enjoy work­ing. If we make enough, we’ll buy the coolest jar of paint.” 

Ömer says old­er chil­dren try to make more mon­ey by hus­tling them, “Me and my cousins don’t get pushed around. I have 6 broth­ers and sis­ters. This is why I must help my family.” 

Ömer’s great­est dream is to be a phys ed teacher. That will take 5 to 6 pairs of shoes shined every day…


Français : Tra­vailler pour lire, “l’iné­gal­ité” en Turquie Cliquez pour lire

Trans­la­tion by Renée Lucie Bourges
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Let­tres mod­ernes à l’Université de Tours. Gros mots poli­tiques… Coups d’oeil politiques…