I HAVEN’T GOT ANY RELATIVES

French Commander, General Gouraund, likes talking about Turkish soldiers.

‘Turkish battles are not like the European battles.’ he says. ‘We do not mercy our enemies. But the Turkish soldiers mercy their enemies even in very difficult situations.’

One day on the battlefield, the general met a wounded French soldier and he wanted to shake his hand. The French soldier pointed a Turkish officer who was lying on the ground unconsciously.

‘Shake his hand, sir. He took his bandages and wrapped my wound. Please help him first.’

It was just like a painting from a very talented painter’ says the general.

‘We’ve been walking among the wounded and dead people. I’ll never forget what I saw then. A French soldier was lying on the ground; a Turkish soldier was wrapping the French soldier’s wound and wiping his blood with a piece from his shirt. I asked him with the help of an interpreter: ‘Why are you helping your enemy that you want to kill?

Tired soldier answered: ‘When this French man got wounded, he took out a photo of an old lady and said something. I didn’t understand what he said but the woman in the picture must be her mother. I haven’t got any relatives. I thought he should survive and go to his mother.’

‘I couldn’t stop crying. Meanwhile one of my officers opened the Turk’s collar. My tears were frozen in front of the scene. The Turk had wounded worse than our soldier and he had put some grass on his wound. A little while later, both of them died.’

Ece Yalcin
9K Etimesgut Anatolian High School Ankara / TURKEY