Tulips up for Turkey and the Victims of Terrorism
With a short and intense ceremony at midday the Bocconi community today remembered the victims of the terrorist attacks in Ankara and the people killed by terrorists everywhere. Some words by the Dean for Students and Internal Affairs, Marco Agliati, preceded a speech by Deniz Göksel, a member of the Turkish Student Association of Bocconi University. Then, during a minute of silence, the large audience raised the red and white tulips given to them by the Turkish students. Below you can read Deniz's speech.
Cameroon, the Philippines, Tunisia , Nigeria, Mali, Pakistan , Yemen, Somalia , Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq, France , Lebanon, China, Ukraine, Israel, Libya , Denmark, Japan, India, Kenya , Thailand, Republic of Macedonia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , USA, Chad , Kuwait, Niger , Bahrain, Bangladesh , Germany, Australia , Russia, Turkey.
Five different continents, hundreds of different nationalities, 388 attacks, and more than 7,400 victims. These are only some of the terror attacks that have been documented and taken place in 2015.
Most probably, many of us haven't even heard about the attacks that I have just mentioned but terrorism is a violent and a non acceptable act that targets the lives of innocent people and takes their right of living, all around the world.
Terrorism has only one goal and it is to feed its own nature and increase the pain by separating people by creating violence and chaos. This pain has struck us last Wednesday night in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, with the news of a bomb explosion. It has left us with nothing but an unexplainable and indescribable sorrow and deep pain right in the heart.
We would have very much liked to say that this attack was the last one, however even when we were trying to find the right words for today, we learned that 50 more innocent lives have faded away because of a bomb explosion in Syria.
We are all on the same boat and this pain is striking us with no discrimination. Terror has no language. Terror has no religion. Terror has no nationality. Terror has a geography.
Let's all be together with the greatest weapon on earth, our hearts and love. And say no to this nonsense violence and fight against this brutal act that's threatening all of us.
Just like Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the builder of the modern Turkey has said: "Peace in the nation, Peace in the world."