Salih Bozok tells: One day we went to a villager’s house in the vicinity of Çankaya. An old peasant and his wife lived in the hut we entered. While drinking the coffee they offered us, Atatürk told me to talk to the villager. To obey this order, I asked the white-bearded villager the first question that came to my mind:
“Do you know Gazi, father?” The old man looked at me sarcastically as if I had asked a silly question:
He said, “Is there anyone who doesn’t know Gazi?” and added: “I haven’t seen him, but he used to perform Friday Prayer at the Hacı Bayram Veli Mosque every week. He had a beard all the way down to his navel. His face, as luminous as an angel, was a blessed old man like the Prophet!”
I couldn’t help but look at Atatürk’s beardless and young face. He raised his eyebrows and ordered me not to introduce himself. And when we got out, he laughed and said:
”Let him know it like that. Learning the truth may destroy the dream of the miserable, what’s the point of killing the cute bearded man in his dream and losing his love? ”
Post a comment