My friend Prof Şerif Ali Tekalan, who was our rector (president of the university) when I was working at Fatih University, told me. When he was just starting out as a doctor, he came to the airport to go from Turkey to Switzerland to specialize. When delivering the luggage, the luggage containing many books is much heavier than the load allowance given to a passenger. The officer tells him the additional baggage fee he needs to pay. But he thinks that if he pays this money, he will have money problems in the first days of the country he goes to.

He has no choice but to take some books out of the suitcase and leave them behind. He starts taking the books out of the suitcase. But at this very moment, a young couple waiting their turn to get a boarding pass, right behind them, makes an offer to the officer there and says this; My wife and I travel with a small suitcase. If possible, you can register the gentleman’s luggage with us. The officer accepts. This way, my doctor friend has the opportunity to take all his books with him without paying any additional fee. He thanks this young couple he doesn’t know very much and goes to the waiting room.

After a while, he hears an announcement. It is announced whether there is a doctor among the passengers. He goes to the officers and tells them that I am a doctor. He asks why a doctor is needed. They say that they can take a pregnant passenger on the plane if a doctor reports that “there is no harm in traveling by plane.”

He is very surprised when he and the officers go to the pregnant passenger. The pregnant passenger is the family that just helped him with him luggage. He asks her some questions. When he finds out that her pregnancy is progressing smoothly, he writes a report saying there is no problem in flying. All of them cannot hide their surprise when the traveler whom they had just helped also helps them. A good deed was soon rewarded. My friend said that, at that time there were no opportunities such as mobile phones and e-mail. If it were so, our friendship and contact with them would continue to this day.

Human history is full of examples of those who do good receiving good. In fact, there are proverbs about this in many cultures. Let me give an example from Turkish culture; They say, “Do good and throw it into the sea. Even if the fish doesn’t know, God knows.”

A friend of mine, who is a teacher, told me this example recently. But in order to understand the issue well, let me first convey the current general picture in Turkey. As reflected in the world media, the regime in Turkey punishes all segments of society that oppose government policies. Opposition Kurdish member of parliamentars being imprisoned. Violating the constitution and laws, even people against whom international courts have ruled that their rights have been violated and acquitted continue to be held in prison. In recent years, thousands of academics have been expelled from universities and tens of thousands of civil servants have been expelled from state institutions. Many of them were also imprisoned.

The regime even punished private companies that hired these people whom it left unemployed. He condemned them to starvation. They even made fun of these people because they could eat tree bark. These people were also prohibited from going abroad to find work. The passports of hundreds of thousands of people were unlawfully cancelled. As I explained in my previous article, people drowned in the Aegean Sea while trying to leave the country illegally. Relatives of people belonging to groups targeted by the government were also threatened. Even those with the same surname as those targeted by the government were victimized. They went so far in evil that those who helped those the Government branded as opponents were also punished.

My friend, who was fired from his job as a teacher for 12 years because she was an opponent of the government, said; All my friends and family members cut off contact with me because of fear of the regime. They were afraid to give us jobs. We were left hungry. One day, when my baby had no diaper left, I sat down and started crying. My phone rang. The caller said; You may not remember me, but I have never forgotten the kindness you did to me years ago. While I was researching how to find you, I also learned that you had a baby. She said, “If you give me your address, I want to come visit you by buying baby diapers.” She completed his words as follows; When the phone call ended, I looked around the room as if I were going to see God. I felt like he saw my situation and offered a helping hand. I was shocked and surprised that a kindness that I do not remember now returned to me as a favor in my most difficult moment.

You may have heard or read about such events and witnessed many similar examples. Let’s not forget this; This is a country of immigrants. If those who came yesterday help those who came today, and those who came today help those who will come tomorrow, we can continue this cycle of kindness forever. Let’s not forget that those who do good will receive good. This is how the world becomes more beautiful.

By Osman OZSOY