Hatirla Sevgili

"Hatirla Sevgili" was more than a romance film for me... it was the story of my youth.

I lived through all the events that formed the background for the film and they are all real. The three military coups that took place between 1960 and 1980 resulted in the most shameful episodes in the history of the Turkish Republic.

In 1960, we witnessed the hanging of our democratically elected prime minister and two of his cabinet members after a humiliating trial that was broadcast across the country over many months. Second coup in 70's saw the hanging of several young activists in an effort to quell the violence between left and right. I was at Middle East Technical University at the time which was the breeding ground for all the communist activities in Turkey. The sad thing is that these activists had the good of their country in their hearts and they did not deserve to die. The latest-and hopefully the last-coup was in 1980 when the military hanged 50 young activists to end the continuing unrest between the right and the left.

The scene is now set for the religious fundamentalists to maneuver.

Turkish film industry has rarely witnessed so many top calibrate actors and actresses come together in a film with such elaborate and convincing love story that utilizes a painfully accurate account of the recent Turkish history.

Our family movie nights have lost an important component now that "Hatirla Sevgili" has come to an abrupt end.

Well done and many thanks