Love, Cuneyd.

The real meaning of this EID is (surely not sacrifice animals) to remember us that we should not too much hang on earthy desires/possessions and to be ready to sacrifice all of them. It is called the “EID of Hajj”.

Again from Wikipedia:

“…A 2008 study on the impact of participating in the Islamic pilgrimage found that Muslim communities become more positive and tolerant after Hajj experience. Titled Estimating the Impact of the Hajj: Religion and Tolerance in Islam’s Global Gathering and conducted in conjunction with Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, the study noted that the Hajj “increases belief in equality and harmony among ethnic groups and Islamic sects and leads to more favorable attitudes toward women, including greater acceptance of female education and employment” and that “Hajjis show increased belief in peace, and in equality and harmony among adherents of different religions.”

Malcolm X, an American activist during the Civil Rights Movement, describes the sociological atmosphere he experienced at his Hajj in the 1960s as follows:

There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue-eyed blondes to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and the non-white. America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange much of my thought patterns previously held.

Happy Eid and may the world forget about differences and concentrate on – and celebrate similarities! Naïve wish? I do not agree, since to be able to reach a point, first we have to imagine and wish. I never give up.

My Allah, please do not leave me without love, purpose and hope! Make my difference felt. Do not make me one of those experiencing sorrow, anxiety and worry… Please, my Allah…

Have a good year.

Dear Friends, Dear All,

Prejudice is also a disease. We are all driven by these prejudices to some degree. So, first of all, I’d like to state this letter is not political.

Many of us will unknowingly encounter and be affected by this virus; some to a greater and some to a lesser extent. In particular, some people from my generation will be able to change the world.

We need to take the necessary precautions, accept the results and focus on the real threat, which is: FEAR.

The modern world is governed by fear. Even the “most uncaring” people are sitting scared in their homes, looking to politicians for help. A thousand years ago, the famous physician and thinker Avicenna’s most significant epidemic advice, more important than staying at home or avoiding going to the mosque and so on, was to not be afraid.

Most of us are asking, “Why don’t we have a lockdown?” as we fear and blame the government.

If you know me, you also know that I spend most of my time abroad for business purposes and thus have many acquaintances in many countries such as Spain, Italy, Germany, China, France, Russia, the US and the UK. I am sure you have some friends there as well. Thank God, we have the internet. Ask someone from these countries and then look at Turkey. Which city had a total lockdown? Wuhan. Anywhere else? Russia had a week of “holiday,” and some parts of India. In addition, some districts had night curfews. That’s it.

What is the reason behind this?

(In the worst case scenario, we may lose 0.3 percent of our 80-million- population. Luckily, it looks like it will be even lower.)

What would happen if there was a total lockdown, meaning all production facilities and business shut down and life as we know it stopped?

The needs of the entire population, yes, 80 million people, would have to be met by the state. And once all businesses have been shut down, nothing will take off where we left it after two or three months. If the whole world stopped, like Bill Gates said, then there would be no problem, but otherwise, functioning economies will overtake ours. Exports alone will take ages to recuperate.

The collapse of the economy will bring greater and long-term devastation, along with higher casualty rates, in exchange for a short- term hospital vacancy.

Furthermore, the government does not have the financial means to take care of 80 million people. Even Germany, which is five times richer than us, has started printing money. The US is in a worse situation as they started by injecting $2.2 trillion directly into the market. In other words, they gave money to people to spend at Walmart. They printed 880 billion dollars during the 2008 crisis but managed to collect it quickly by offering long-term bonds, and kept inflation from rising. They do not have this option today. The US will face severe inflation.

On the Aid Campaign

Dear All,

You may not be aware of it, but the state aids two million of the poorest families directly (with coal, pasta and so on, which are mocked by some) through the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services and Social Assistance Foundation offices in each district.

The daily incomes of these families were destroyed in particular. These families are starving while we share videos and criticise them from the comforts of our homes. I am talking about families that have to subsist on crumbs. The proceeds from this campaign will go directly to these families (I believe the government’s mistake was not clearly explaining this).

This campaign was intended for those who “have the means.” If the government did not ask for donations, who do you think would pay for this? All of us… Because they would print money.

Everybody will pay for it due to the resulting inflation. The only alternative is, of course, long-term borrowing. I believe they are also working on this. They won’t make the mistake of turning down a special borrowing opportunity. Of course, they will take it.

We also have a little-known, not widely-practiced “zakat,” a form of charity tradition. The zakat providers were asked to give their zakats a month before Ramadan, because these charitable donations were to be delivered to these families through Social Assistance Foundations.

I’ve helped the foundation as much as I can, as a single source can distribute these resources to those in need better than individual foundations or hospitals. I also raised money from countries that have their own struggles such as Russia, Switzerland and the US.

Dear All,

Our culture cares for everyone regardless of their religion, language or race.

I’m talking to those that find it odd when we help others in need while we are barely getting by.

Although you might not embrace the culture of support and sharing, you may understand the concept of “benefit.”

Now consider this; Germany is supposedly doing the best, however, Luxembourg, Italy and Spain are in ruins. They cannot find nurses, let alone doctors. Everyone is trying to stay at home to ride out the pandemic.

Italians and Spaniards are furious and heartbroken in particular. Both at their respective governments and the European Union. Just today my Italian and Spanish friends (ordinary citizens) told me how happy they were with the speeches of our Minister of Foreign Affairs and President, and that the European Union no longer existed. We are witnessing the diplomatic benefit, which would not be received through thousands of planeloads of aid, with a single plane and that’s directly from the people.

Please summarise these points and spread them around.

Fear

We must not be driven by fear. These days will pass. The earth will become considerably poorer. Those who are doing okay will be affected less, those that are doing worse will be affected more, but everyone will become poorer.

My “fear” is the prospect of exchanging all of our freedom for health, food and, in some countries, safety. (I have to remind you of how lucky we are. Just ask your friends in Paris or Los Angeles).

What I fear is the world becoming more prone to totalitarian regimes after this epidemic.

This is a great time for solidarity. If only people helped each other… But as individuals, we still make a big deal for a planeload of supplies, which is nothing but sad. This is the reality. But let’s hope for the best.

Best Regards,

H. Cuneyd Zapsu

My dear colleagues,

Most of you are asking me about what will happen… I am no doctor. I am just still in relation with the world, I have seen the USA during this pandemic, the different countries of Europe, Asia, I have been in contact with people… And I am trying to make sense out by gathering all of these.

Firstly, I would like to start by being thankful for today. Thank Allah, thank Allah, thank Allah… I believe in the power of being thankful. Of course I am thankful to Allah, and also for the family members, our colleagues, to everyone, everything… Above all for being able to breathe, like Goethe put so beautifully (Goethe says he took it from Sadi in “West-östlicher Divan”… Giving thanks is relaxing, empowering… (If you have my cell number, take a look at what is written under my picture on WhatsApp, for so many years.)

I am getting back to the subject, before this all gets steered toward a different direction.

In the video below, a German Doctor first questions the reality of the pandemic – in simple and proper words, then talks about the risks of the new type vaccination and mentioned that there can be an unofficial forcing at the end, even if there are no official ones…

He is aware – because he has an awareness of the pandemic and he is anti-vaccine – and he has some things “mistaken” as well. For instance yes, the mask filter is much bigger than the virus, the virus will just pass through… But the thing is to prevent the virus from reaching in not just by itself, but with a drop when everyone wears a mask; it getting out of me in this drop despite the mask and reaching the other person despite their mask… It surely makes sense when you think of it that way.

Remember when I wrote to you again in March: then, some people including those who were so-called Doctors said, “Only those that think they might be sick should wear masks”, and I said to you, as someone who knew nothing about these things, “That is ridiculous, how can people know who is sick, everyone should wear one at once”…

All in all yes, what everyone has been saying lately is:

Mask on everyone, hygiene – handwashing and also keeping your distance (trying not to go into the crowd even with a mask on), the simplest, most accurate thing.

Also, my personal opinion for today is:

When you look at the death rates of this pandemic, this pandemic is certainly not something to stop the world, lock everyone up and drive them crazy; and not at all for the healthy people.

Like I said in March, I claim now that the cost of the lockdowns and the outcome of this pandemic have already been way more than the ones who died and they will be in our world. The whole world is contracting not in the high-income group but in the lower income ones; not being able to go to the doctor’s, getting medication, getting food… And officially 30 million people have already starved to death more than the other years according to the WHO data, and the aids stopped both because the aiding countries did not have the means and because there was nobody to aid…

But this disease is so contagious that it collapses the health system at an instant.

Even though new hospitals were built in Turkey during the first wave, it is not as easy to raise healthcare staff as building hospitals, of course, a Doctor friend of mine said the other day, “I have been here (at the hospital) for 3 days, I do not have the time to take a shower, it is bad” even in our country (I say “even” because believe me the world is in a worse condition, because nobody really made the necessary preparations during the first wave, because they were unable to take instant decisions centrally, for example in Germany, even the government’s decision to build a hospital will take years – look into the reason why the Berlin airport could not be completed for 10 years).

The issue is its contagiousness rather than its fatality and the healthcare system’s inability to cope with it when it instantly hits.

Think about it, the decrease of the hospital beds by daily more than 5000 according to the official figures at one stage… The emergency rooms overflowing, lines, even at the private hospitals, but the real problem is the insufficient number of doctors, nurses and their fatigue, low spirits… So much so that if you were to ask our healthcare workers fighting at the forefront to overcome these days, they would tell you, “Are you crazy? Get vaccinated immediately!”. There is no other way…

The priority during the lockdowns is not to eliminate the disease, it is to reduce the infection to give a breat for the health system… Because everyone will eventually meet this disease one way or the other. Just like I said back in March…

What I think about today again:

We will all – especially the “younger” ones like me – try to be more careful by not panicking (I remembered the words of Özdemir Asaf, “This panic will kill me; not life”), by not being afraid (it will weaken our immune system), and accept that this is a test, a different experience. We will protect ourselves… Until when?

Either until we have antibodies, or until the pandemic eases and the healthcare system is able to continue the usual care. I am being very clear. If the doctors and the hospitals were less crowded today, this would have to be treated as an influenza pandemic – although a much severe one.

Nobody has to retire into their own shells. We need to think of this disease as a natural selection. Think about Allah’s name of Halim (gentle). Because such a way of living is against human nature! As for the vaccine. First of all, “it is not mandatory, don’t get it if you don’t want it…” is rubbish. Because life has to continue eventually and even the buses, trains, supermarkets, movie theaters, etc. will not let unvaccinated people in, let alone travelling by plane. So, Turkey will have to follow when the world does not let the unvaccinated in.

Yes, people will get vaccinated, and you managed to protect yourselves, and it diminished, almost went away like last summer, right? I say that unfortunately, it will be impossible to recover without a vaccine – abouth the conspiracy theories here – some other time…

After all, unfortunately the year of 2021 will be the year of vaccination. China might start before us, and after that hopefully one or three of the Turks in spring…

The classic vaccine… That is, China, Russia, some new Germans, French, and the Turks that will soon arrive…

They help the body beat it and get ready by injecting an extremely low amount of or a dormant virus, as it has been for centuries or maybe more, just like our mothers and babies scratched their arms with smallpox, let alone Dr. Koch. So, the body is ready when the real dangerous amount comes…

Some side effects are seen in some people in every classic vaccine. Even influenza vaccine which can found you for two-three even four days. Everybody’s body and the immune system ıts different.

So, what is the difference this time? Yes, this time, this risk might be greater – or not, we do not know because we stepped right in – instead of waiting 5 – 6 years immediately – because there is no other way…

Like I said, if the disease was not this contagious and collapsed the healthcare system, the classic vaccine would start in 5 – 6 years…

What are you gonna do?

Abouth MRNA messages

It is a first, a revolution in the history of humanity.

Because it is not actually a vaccine, that is, the virus is not being injected, a message is being given to the body. They say, “Look, you should be ready for these kinds of things from now on, develop your anti-powers beforehand”… And the body is given a command to attack… The body receives this command from outside, it does not develop it with its own mind… I believe what the German Doctor says about this topic.

That is the thing one should really fear because it is uncertain if this will have side effects or not (allergies, etc. it is rubbish because it would be solved as it manifests instantly) and if any, there is no experiences, none at all, about what they would be because apparently there has been no time, the effects might come up in the next generation, in our children even. Think about it, what if our body destroys something else that is necessary instead of this virus, if this message mutates – I mean, what if it changes a little when it is passed down during “Chinese whispers”? Allah forbid, but this danger seriously exists (ask if a Doctor says otherwise: can you guarantee it 100%?). What if there is a risk of 1% or even 1.0% and millions, maybe billions of people get destroyed suddenly…!

One more thing: Don’t you find this a bit odd? The GMO (genetically modified) foods were prohibited in all developed countries, there has been limitations… The same goes for Turkey right now… We were scared, because maybe there could be some effects in our bodies if we were to eat such foods…

Hmmm… Now we are directly conveying RNA messages to our bodies, let alone our food… Isn’t there something that does not make sense? Then let’s just let this GMO business go…

By the way, please just to be clear, I am not against these new technologies, for example, why is the vaccine that was discovered by our Turkish couple out in the market at once? Because they have been trying to give messages for cancer treatment for years already, if I heard correctly, and they went toward COVID when it came out… Surely you would go for this instead of devastating your body with chemotherapy, Allah forbid, it is the lesser of the two evils, you would take the lesser of the risks…

What is certain, is that the world will go toward it rapidly, I think all taboos in the Gen technology must have gone away at once with this disease…

All of these are okay.

But in my humble opinion (I mean, really, not that I know anything, I said it twice, so please nobody say “CZ is saying” it):

I do not want to be the pioneering subjects of this new technology.

This disease is devastating for the risk group. Therefore, I think it is better to go for the classic vaccine immediately (including myself) for other people, if they have to.

Let the new technology prove itself properly, maybe your children will not get to know about any other type of vaccine anyway.

One way or the other, we must get back our lives as soon as possible, because I think we are losing our mental health, which is our most important one.

Hopefully, the 1^st group will begin within December, the 1^st group will be roughly about done in the 1^st-2^nd-3^rd-4^th months, maybe the 2^nd group might begin. If we have enough vaccines, the vaccination campaigns in Turkey are much better than many countries, and also, the logistics of the classic vaccine is too different to be compared with the logistics issue of the new “message” vaccine (I think the new one was -80 degrees, which is extremely difficult, even in Bavaria in Germany, which is the richest region but there were only 5 centers that could be created last week, how many vaccinations can be done in a day, anyway?… Though, the Germans are the race to know about organization the best in the world, they will come up with it; but I do not even want to think about the USA).

The Turkish vaccines will come into the picture at the end of April, maybe in May and vaccination can start full speed until the end of the year…

and we will never lock down again in autumn.

Most probably, even when the world opens up in the summer, it will start to be impossible to do anything without an Antibody Certificate, planes, entering countries, etc.

I think the world will be in a tougher situation than us in Turkey and the vaccination in the US with the new vaccine might go beyond 1 year… And people might think about what I have written above and wake up and not want it, so, this Antibody Certificate will become really important.

If this timing cannot be met, may Allah protect us all, because like I said, we are about to lose our mental health and after a while, you will not be able to contain anybody, nobody would just wait quietly and properly for the vaccine, some will get it, some will go and the natural selection will claim its victims… And again, we will find ourselves at the same place with a 1-year delay, only in an extremely troubled world…

That is it for today…

If there are some of you who have the opportunity to get vaccinated but do not want to, or who say “I will get the German one”, they can write to me directly, I would like to discuss…

Didn’t most of us used to have a much more different good/bad sense of the world in genera? America good, Russia bad… Freedom on the one hand, and slavery on the other. 60-70-80-98… what happened in our country, now mistakes once again…

After the eastern bloc was brought down in the world, when NATO had no foundation purpose left and started looking for a new enemy, even creating one itself, then the atrocity in the center of Europe in Bosnia and the West just sitting idly by, the whole world leaving democracy aside after the Twin Towers and the sort of invasion of Iraq and the whole Middle East including Saudi Arabia, the Rwanda, Kongo, Darfur, Rohingya genocides that have not been in the public eye… The failure of this general invasion much closer to us (Syria, Libya) due to much more different and varied balances (Turkey/Russia) and Palestine, always Palestine… We did not used to know; one side was the good ones and the other was the bad ones… We were always the good ones, like everyone else… The “bad ones” were the other ones. I am not talking about the United States’ information about Palestine that is not only prejudiced and biased, but that also corrupts the awareness right now, we found out who rules the USA, but look at the German media which we thought was supposed to be truer, even the ones that make the most proper news, even FAZ and SZ only talk about “conflict… mutual injuries, deaths… and surely Hamas’ missiles” as if a button has been pressed. The entire “western” media, even the Germans report – just like they are asked to – how the Israeli settlers raided and seized the Palestinians’ homes, and while intimidating the Palestinians to stay quiet, how they changed the subject with Al-Aqsa (to show the world Hamas’ expected reaction). And they do this knowingly… I thought that all governments, media and even the whole humanity were “good” and told the truth, there was definitely trust; I was more naïve and happier.

Right now I am thinking about how I can tell my children, my grandchildren about whom they can trust, about the world with the rights and the wrongs, without making them worried. I want them to love all people. That is how we have been raised. We were naïve, naiveite, purity and stupidity are different things… A person older than me once said to me, “You are too naïve, Cuneyd”, and I replied, “Yes, I am, and I wish to stay that way; I am not willing to change”.

I am sorry, this was merely supposed to be a holiday greeting; I did not wish to bore you, it just came out… Hoping that we all get to the future Holidays in good health – and that my generation also sees a better world. Happy Holidays.

Cuneyd Zapsu

Note: This does not mean stop the kazandibi, dolma, pastries… Let them come in. Let us dress nicely even if we stay home, let us experience the Holiday even a little…