Human Values, Moral Values and Social Value Judgements

Abdulkadir Tanrikulu was born in Diyarbakir in 1961 and was educated in the journalism faculty of Ankara University. He left his studies of journalism and public relations in the fourth year. He worked as a journalist for two years during the most violent period in Turkeys southeast (19881990). Following this, he took management positions in several private companies. During his life following university, he closely observed society. He observed that the instincts of people in situations where terrorism prevails affected their behaviour in an unhealthy manner. He witnessed the state becoming more aggressive and the destruction of the concept of justice and judicial organisations that would affect the future of the people. He witnessed the effects of an unhealthy environment on forthcoming generations, how they suffered, and how families lost hope. He wrote about these experiences in books several times but, each time, did not consider the end product to be sufficient, and he abandoned these projects, destroying the books. The author also observed the spiritual interactions of the people and witnessed the reactions of religious organisations to an environment where terrorism was rife. The books he wrote on these subjects he also destroyed without publishing. If you have no respect for your profession, the place you live, your individual or societal identity, your status within society, your beliefs, no matter what your ideology is, if you have no respect for human values, you are merely a savage. Eventually he came to this conclusion: if you cannot be human, you are nothing but a savage.