Features
8 FEBRUARY 2021
The Story of Hacer
Deniz Demirag, MSc Environment, Politics and Development
1. I want to take you on a journey to an ordinary village in Southeast Turkey. I never knew what home felt like after nomadically living in four countries and countless cities. I was in search of unknown treasure in uncharted places. Then a breeze of my lost memories of childhood found me, and I knew that the real gem was where it all started - in this ordinary Turkish/Kurdish village. Despite the euphoria of this place, red-whiskered bulbuls aren’t always singing, and the roads get rocky.
Hacer when she was young. (Credit: Deniz Demirag)
Hacer at her engagement. (Credit: Deniz Demirag)
3. Beauty lies in people's simple words, in a world where stories are only worth telling if they are good, gracious and glorified. My aunt, Hacer, was very kind to share her humble story to us, going through a divorce almost 20 years ago in a traditional village. ‘My marriage was arranged by my parents against my will. My ex-husband was a family member, and I was forced at an early age because my parents said the “customs” (âdet) and “traditions” (gelenek) must be protected. There was no love. He mistreated me from the beginning like I was an animal.’
2. This is my plan to document ordinary people with their highs and lows. Their experiences guide us through socioeconomic, political and cultural veils, but most importantly, they provide a platform to put minds into perspective. I want to explore the development processes that affected people’s lives - migration, violence, forced labour and marriage - and how these had an unravelling psychological impact.
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Hacer’s wedding; the bride is being taken to the groom's house. (Credit: Deniz Demirag)
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