As a person who has a deep interest in the contemporary history and the treatment against the minority groups, I tend to get super excited coming across events which aim to raise awareness about some unfair treatments that have taken place and are forgotten/not learned about. Thus, I was more than happy when I found about this NGO called Karakutu which was exactly what I needed and where I could find all these eye-opening events.
Karakutu’s main goal is to contribute to raising awareness of communal memory related to human rights violations and to support the peaceful solutions of conflicts with mutual understanding and developing democracy. With its own words;
“Karakutu works to learn lessons from the past. We believe that remembering the past plays an essential role in justice and peace. As a society, we lack a fair memory of the past. As much as we remember past violence, conflicts, and wrongdoings, a peaceful and equal society is possible. We try to raise the voices of alternative narratives that were suppressed by official history and to introduce different perspectives about the past to society, especially to youth.”
To achieve these goals, Karakutu’s offers a program called Memory Journey. Under this program some cool events such as Memory Walks, and Seeking Justice seminars take place. During Seeking Justice seminars, researchers and activists share their experiences about confronting the past. And Memory Walks are events where people come together to explore and learn more about the unfair treatments some groups have been facing based on their ethnic, religious, or political identities.
I attended one of those Memory Walks in Beyoğlu on September 29th. Because Karakutu has no office at the moment, they collaborate with other NGOs to host the events. The NGO for that day was Tarlabaşı Toplum Merkezi. There, we were informed about Karakutu, its events, and goals and what to expect for the day followed by the introduction of the attendees. The organizers then made four random groups consisting three to four members each and gave each group an envelope with a clue related to the location the group needs to go to and an event that took place there.
When the group agrees that they found the right place, they text the organizers to make sure the location is the right one so as not to lose time. In the location, a storyteller awaits for the group and talks about the unfair treatment of a group that happened there or related to the location and gives away a new envelope with a new clue. There are four locations per event but each group only gets to visit three because of timing issues. Afterward, everyone gets back to the NGO, in my case the TTM and the evaluation period begins. The emotions and ideas about the locations and the events are shared and some feedback is given to the organizers of what could be improved and the event ends. It approximately lasts five hours but I would be willing to give away more of my time and get to visit one or two more locations.
Recently they opened the volunteering applications to become a storyteller in the series of Memory Walks and the deadline to apply is November 4. If you are interested in attending as a participant though, keep in mind that the walks are usually held in Turkish, therefore you need to contact them to request an English one if you are not fluent in Turkish. They admit 15 people per walk so it would be wise to apply as soon as the events pop out. For more information, be sure to check out the official website as well we the Facebook page.
All photos courtesy of Karakutu.
