Life is Bigger Than 65 Years of Age!

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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The bans relating to age that have been put into effect to combat the coronavirus outbreak, especially the curfews imposed for those aged 65 and older, are against the principle of "Equality Before the Law" guaranteed by Article 10 of our Constitution and "the Prohibition of Discrimination" stipulated by Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). That being the case, these measures and curfews are, in fact, null and void.

Moreover, the relevant legal regulations, including the Public Health Law (No 1593) dated 1930, do not encompass a restriction based on age, either. If they did, they would have probably been long since repealed upon the application of the political parties to the Constitutional Court.

Equality before the law trampled upon

What makes me sad for my country is that the legal profession and the media have stayed silent for weeks in spite of the fact that the principle of equality before the law, the backbone of democratic constitutions, is being trampled upon. In fact, the result of debates on this issue is obvious. The debates held in France about the issue two months ago ended in the way that I described above thanks to the lawyers and physicians who stood up against it. Discrimination based on age was shelved without being implemented. To summarize the reason, it was done because the prohibition of discrimination is a fundamental right. As a matter of fact, President Emmanuel Macron also indicated that "he did not want to make any discrimination among the citizens" and announced that "he left the protection from the virus to the personal responsibility of people." But, in our country, the opposition has not raised a single voice.

The members of the Science Board, who have no idea about the law, are getting on television and talking recklessly, as if the country was a big hospital. What do they say? The fatality rates are high among those aged 65 and over and, as they love us a lot, we must shut ourselves in our homes while everyone else walks outside freely... It is because the children have a high rate of transmission and we have high rates of fatality, they say...

The higher the age, the higher the mortality rate (incidentally, the highest mortality rate is 15 percent and it is not among over 65's, but among those older than 80). Well, if we want to talk about mortality, one needs to get infected first. So, do you mean that children, the parents of little ones and we senior citizens cannot take the simple measures of protecting ourselves from the virus like others do? They are talking about mortality in relation to people who have not even contracted the virus. There is no causal link, we have not contracted the virus, not been hospitalized or anything... Why do these people treat us as though we have caught the virus? Or, have our minds dulled to such an extent that we cannot comprehend the seriousness of the issue? Do we have one foot in the grave? Are we incapable of taking responsibility for ourselves?

They are as funny as they are cruel

Those a bit over 65 hear that the ones aged 50-60, even those just 1 or 2 years younger than themselves, refer to them with exaggerated, artificial expressions of concern, such as "uncles, aunties, our old folks, precious ones, mighty oaks..." They are funny, they are as funny as they are cruel. They are bringing people, whom they might normally consider as big brothers or sisters, to the edge of the grave. In fact, some of us have mothers or fathers still alive. If this metaphor of "mighty oaks" is necessary, it is not appropriate for the ones aged 65 to 70, but for those of more advanced age. They have used the criteria of old age that are relevant to those aged 85 to 90, and applied them to people only 2-3 years older than themselves.

What is more upsetting is the following: If the outbreak has a second wave, they will again - without a doubt - tell the ones aged 65 and over and those younger than 18 to stay home. Yes, children still have many years before them to live as they wish, but what about the aged? Can the pandemic be overcome by stealing from the gradually decreasing lifetimes of the aged? If these people are so deprived of reason, then we also need to worry about the future of Turkey. Will Turkey be ruled by a mentality that does not hesitate to trample upon the constitution and the international conventions that the country is party to?

As common sense is no more...

The punishment of curfew relating to age is soon to end. The country will be opened to foreign travel as of June 18, as far as we understand. As it does not seem likely that age criteria will be in place for the foreigners, I think that they will also have to release us. It is unlikely that they will tell tourists to come to Turkey without their children, or the ones aged 65 and older not to come to Turkey at all. But it is still possible that they will keep us inside by telling us, the ones declared second-class citizens, that "they love us." Words are inadequate when common sense is no more...

In fact, it is a must to address these unconstitutional bans that will have to be lifted in the end. I wish that we as individuals could pursue domestic remedies and appeal to the Constitutional Court. Then, - if the court did not consider this to be an open violation of the Constitution - to consult with the ECtHR. Yes, we observe with sorrow that some members of the Science Board treat the country as a hospital and every citizen as a potential patient, but we also know that those who need to consider the decisions in terms of their compliance with the constitution and the law, are not physicians, but politicians. To the politicians who recklessly cry out in the face of injustice in the world and say that the world is bigger than five, we also have a word to say: Protection from the virus is a personal responsibility and life is also bigger than 65 years of age. Are you aware of it, though? (AÖ/AÖ)