{"id":288,"date":"2013-12-06T23:56:55","date_gmt":"2013-12-06T23:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/?p=288"},"modified":"2013-12-07T00:24:08","modified_gmt":"2013-12-07T00:24:08","slug":"thank-you-and-good-by-nelson-mandela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/thank-you-and-good-by-nelson-mandela\/","title":{"rendered":"THANK YOU AND GOOD-BY NELSON MANDELA"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many, Nelson Mandela\u2019s name is synonymous with courage, patience, compromise and reconciliation. More than anything else, I remember him for his decency, dignity, humility and resilience.<\/p>\n

The towering figure of South Africa\u2019s struggle for freedom became an inspiration for all who fight for equal rights and peace around the globe.<\/p>\n

His death at the age of 95 touched all corners of the world as seen in headlines gathered by World Crunch.\u00a0 http:\/\/www.worldcrunch.com\/world-affairs\/goodbye-mandela-59-front-pages-from-around-the-world\/nelson-mandela-madiba-south-africa-apartheid-president\/c1s14337\/#.UqIWdZpFCM_<\/a><\/p>\n

The media in Turkey once again stood apart. With a few exceptions,\u00a0 the death of Mandela didn\u2019t make it prominently to front pages of Turkey\u2019s\u00a0 newspapers.<\/p>\n

Both in the mainstream and social media, the majority of comments \u00a0referred to his refusal in 1992 to accept the Ataturk Award given to him by the Government of Turkey.<\/p>\n

At the time, there were harsh words uttered about Mandela in the Turkish press. Perhaps the most odious headline was that of the national daily, Hurriyet, calling him \u201cThe Ugly African\u201d.<\/p>\n

The African National Congress put out a statement\u00a0\u00a0 on the 12th<\/sup> of\u00a0 May 1992, pointing out that Nelson Mandela had spent his whole life in the service of democracy, human rights and freedom from oppression.\u00a0 He categorically did not want the award which was previously given to the leader of the 1982 military coup and later- president of Turkey, General Kenan Evren. The ANC made it clear that their attitude did not reflect \u201cany negative view of Kemal Ataturk, the reformer and founder of modern Turkey\u201d in whose name the award was given.<\/p>\n

It was also no secret at the time that Mandela objected to Turgut \u00d6zal government\u2019s underhand trading with South Africa during the years of the apartheid.<\/p>\n

Turkey wasn\u2019t the only country that had a very negative view of the struggle of the black leader against the white regime of South Africa in those days.<\/p>\n

The British Prime minister\u00a0 Margaret Thatcher, in 1987, called the ANC\u00a0 a typical terrorist organisation and said \u2018 Anyone who thinks it is going to run the government in South Africa is living in cloud-cuckoo land’ \u00a0.<\/p>\n

Mrs Thatcher didn\u2019t believe in talking to terrorists and for many years, steadfastly stuck to her sanction breaking position towards the apartheid regime.<\/p>\n

It now turns out that it was another experienced \u00a0stateswoman, the Queen of the UK and the Commonwealth, \u00a0who urged the Prime Minister to tone down her policy on South Africa.<\/p>\n

To be fair, Margaret Thatcher did push for Mandela\u2019s release from prison.\u00a0 Mandela was received in London both before and after his election to the presidency with respect.<\/p>\n

Paying tribute to Mandela after his death, Lord Renwick, the former British Ambassador to South Africa reminded us the meeting in Downing Street between Thatcher and the freshly released Nelson Mandela in 1990. When it lasted so long, the press outside the Prime Minister\u2019s office sang \u201cFree Nelson Mandela\u201d song.<\/p>\n

The Conservative Party of Margaret Thatcher changed its stance on Mandela and twelve years later David Cameron admitted that the Conservatives had been wrong about the ANC.<\/p>\n

Today, the flags in the UK fly at half-mast and the Parliament plans to hold an unprecedented session next week to honour Nelson Mandela.<\/p>\n

Since the announcement of his death, there have been many tributes paid to Mandela by politicians, literary figures and celebrities but I was touched by the very personal memories of two of my journalist friends.<\/p>\n

The first one is by my former BBC colleague, Emily Kasriel, whose photo you see with this blog entry. Writing in http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.co.uk\/emily-kasriel\/nelson-mandela-global-icon_b_4396635.html?utm_hp_ref=uk<\/a>\u00a0 Emily recalls her meeting with\u00a0 Mandela in South Africa. \u00a0As a BBC reporter, \u00a0she witnessed first- hand, how the former ANC army soldiers, \u00a0recently incorporated but not happily integrated into the South African Defense Force challenging their President.\u00a0 She saw Mandela\u2019s helicopter landing, the president coming out walking straight into the furious crowd and \u00a0speaking to \u00a0many of them personally.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly after he had heard the details of their lives, and projected to them personally his deep sense of humanity and compassion, did he address the whole crowd, and explained to them the importance of now having a single South African army and the need for both discipline and patience. When he spoke, the soldiers listened carefully. When he finished they returned to their barracks, quiet, peaceful, and satisfied<\/b>\u201d recalls Emily.<\/p>\n

The second personal recollection comes from my friend, the former Financial Times editor and correspondent David Lennon and his wife Vicky.<\/p>\n

David and Vicky remember listening to a mesmerizing Nelson Mandela speak just before the elections in 1994.<\/p>\n

In their tribute they wrote that the most extra-ordinary aspect of his contribution to the world in which we live was his forgiveness for his enemies.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo years ago we revisited South Africa and found many flaws, but the one thing we did not encounter was hostility or hatred towards us as white people. The slogan: “Free Nelson Mandela” also tells us that Mandela freed us from racial hatred and hatred of the oppressor\u201d they say.<\/p>\n

For me, too, what set Nelson Mandela a world apart was his steely determination to fight prejudice and discrimination wherever he came across it.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be free is not merely to cast off one\u2019s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mandela did not want to be turned into a cult figure.<\/p>\n

Perhaps, what \u00a0kept him firmly on the ground was partly\u00a0 his decision to surround himself with strong and wise men and women. Among them was another Nobel peace laureate, Desmond Tutu.\u00a0 The man who dubbed South Africa \u201cthe rainbow nation\u201d was characteristically outspoken about sanctification of his friend Mandela.\u00a0 \u201cHe is only one pebble on the beach\u201d Desmond Tutu said \u201cNot an insignificant pebble, I\u2019ll grant you that, but a pebble all the same\u201d.<\/p>\n

Like all great leaders that made their mark in history, Mandela had many weaknesses, too.\u00a0 He had regretted neglecting his family in long years of struggle. He was said to be inattentive to detail in state affairs. His nominated successor, Thabo Mbeki was a bad choice. Mbeki\u2019s misguided policy on HIV\/AIDS was a disaster for South Africa.<\/p>\n

19 years of democracy, albeit with its flaws, is the greatest legacy Nelson Mandela left to his country.<\/p>\n

For the rest of us, he set a shining example of a statesman and a good human being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For many, Nelson Mandela\u2019s name is synonymous with courage, patience, compromise and reconciliation. More than anything else, I remember him for his decency, dignity, humility and resilience. The towering figure of South Africa\u2019s struggle for freedom became an inspiration for all who fight for equal rights and peace around the globe. His death at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}