A Twenty-Year-Old Youngster is Going …

Abstract

I had never heard of this place called Tunceli. They said it was a little town in the middle of a valley. You of course get excited going to a new place like that. The commanders had said we were going to a very beautiful place. The regiment commander had singled out 40 people, including me, among a group of 5,000 to congratulate. Because we were very successful during the training, they had appointed us directly, without entering our names in the computer selection system. That was the reason he was congratulating us. The basic training period was difficult of course. They push you hard in order to prepare you for the training. It was not regular military training, it was guerilla training. Things took a different turn during our time. We did not know much. In fact, I had wanted to do my military service in the West.