The Eras of Humanity and Diogenes of Iğdır

Dear readers!

Since its existence, humankind has exhibited a peculiar pattern of behavior. When it discovers something, it dedicates all its energy and talent to that discovered field, while other areas of interest continue at a low level. For this reason, it has been impossible in subsequent centuries to create works of the same quality. Let's sequentially examine some of humanity's focal points, from primitive humans to the present day:

THE PALEOLITHIC AGE

After learning to use its hands, humankind's first task was to chip stones and use them for various purposes. In the Paleolithic Age, humans acquired such an extraordinary ability to make wonderfully sharp tools from different stones that even the most skilled artisans today, despite having electric tools, cannot chip stones with such perfection. For thousands of years during the Paleolithic Age, humankind spent all its intelligence and talent chipping stones, gaining an extraordinary skill in this area.

When the Metal Age began, humankind abandoned the use of stone and instead created magnificent works using metals. If you were to ask someone living in the Metal Age to make a stone similar to one from the Paleolithic Age, they would reply, "It's impossible to do that!" Leaving aside the Metal Age person, even today, producing stone tools of similar quality with high technology is questionable.

THE ARCHITECTURAL (PALACES, MONUMENTS) PERIOD

When humankind learned to build houses, they initially preferred round structures and house types with windows in the ceiling. After learning to build houses with an entrance door and windows on the side walls, as we know them today, they adhered to this model until the present. In those years, humankind devoted all its intelligence and energy to building houses and monuments, that is, to architecture. Soon, palaces, pyramids, and colossal monuments emerged. All the works we call the Seven Wonders of the World date from this period. More than 100 pyramids were built in Egypt during those times. Today, although Egypt is much stronger demographically and technologically than 5000 years ago, it does not have the power to build a pyramid like Cheops. For many years, humankind took the construction of monuments and palaces seriously, dedicating all its intelligence and energy to making them better. However, this interest and skill gradually diminished in subsequent centuries.

Completed in 126 AD, the Pantheon is the largest domed building in the world. Its dome has a diameter of 43 meters. If we consider that Mimar Sinan's most magnificent work, the Selimiye Mosque, has a dome of 31.30 meters and was opened in 1575 AD, we can say that over the intervening 1500 years, humanity's ability to build magnificent monuments and palaces has decreased. Today, even if we wanted to, we could not build a monument like a pyramid or a Hagia Sophia.

THE PERIOD OF PROPHETS

From the first prophet, Adam, to the last prophet, Muhammad, many prophets came and went. According to a strong روایت (narration), the number of these prophets is 124,000, and according to another, 224,000. Only 25 of them are mentioned in the Quran.

In short, humankind spent a long period with the emergence of prophets and their efforts to provide spiritual guidance to society. I want you to imagine 124,000 prophets coming and going from the face of the earth. That is, for a period, humanity was in an extraordinary effort of "spirituality." That era has now closed. Since the death of Prophet Muhammad, no individual who has provided religious leadership to humanity has been more important than any of the 124,000 prophets. We can include religious figures such as Rumi, Imam Shafi'i, Imam Hanefi, Khomeini, and Said Nursi in this list. The knowledge of these religious figures may be profound, but they could not reach the level of prophets because humanity, in a sense, closed the era of prophets with Prophet Muhammad. (NOTE: Mormons, settled in Utah, USA, consider Joseph Smith (1805-1844) to be the last prophet after Jesus Christ.)

THE CLASSICAL MUSIC PERIOD

Classical music experienced its peak in the 18th and 19th centuries. Names like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Haydn, Schubert, Vivaldi, Wagner, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Franz Liszt, Handel, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Paganini, Strauss, Verdi, Béla Bartók, Rimsky-Korsakov, von Weber, Mussorgsky, Bizet lived in these centuries. Today, it is impossible to produce such composers. Next to these giant names, for example, our most important composer Fazıl Say remains a small detail. In short, the era of great composers has also closed.

THE LITERARY PERIOD

Similarly, literature also experienced its peak in the 19th and partly 20th centuries and then began to decline. Names like Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Jane Austen, John Steinbeck, George Orwell, Faulkner, Nabokov, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Kafka, Oscar Wilde, Jack London, Balzac, Victor Hugo lived in these centuries. Humanity now struggles to produce writers of this quality. In a sense, the literary period also peaked and then declined.

THE PAINTING PERIOD

Likewise, painting also experienced its peak in the 19th and partly 20th centuries. Names like Van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Munch, Matisse, Renoir, Frida Kahlo, Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Seurat lived in these centuries. Humanity now struggles to produce painters of this quality. In a sense, the painting period also peaked and then declined.

THE ARMAMENT PERIOD

With the establishment of nation-states (1789), humankind showed extraordinary interest in weapon manufacturing. The arms race, which began in the 19th century and is currently at its peak, will only decline and disappear with a major catastrophe similar to a third world war. Currently, all discoveries in our world are used in the production of new weapons. The defense expenditures of nation-states are increasing every year. In short, what marks today's world is neither literature, nor music, nor painting, nor architecture, nor anything else. Great minds are making extraordinary efforts to invent more lethal weapons.

THE PERIOD OF PHILOSOPHERS

Humankind experienced its peak in philosophy in Greece during the 5th and 4th centuries BC. All philosophical questions were formulated during this period, and great minds spent their greatest efforts answering these philosophical questions. Philosophers in subsequent centuries built upon Greek philosophy. Names like Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Pythagoras, Democritus, Thales, Anaximander, Epicurus, Anaxagoras lived in these centuries. Humanity now struggles to produce philosophers of this quality. One of the famous philosophers of this period was Diogenes.

DIOGENES OF IĞDIR: NINO SEFER

Nino Sefer is one of the unforgettable figures of Iğdır. He is, in a sense, Iğdır's Diogenes. He wandered the streets of Iğdır, a vagrant and in need of every penny. Some treated him as "crazy," others were very cruel, chasing him away from wherever they saw him. Some, however, did not withhold their compassion and generosity from Nino Sefer.

My esteemed fellow citizen Faik Kubilay immortalized Nino Sefer spiritually in his book "Küçük Köylüler" (Little Villagers). The anecdotes and jokes you will read below are fragments and memories remaining from this immortality. We commemorate Nino Sefer with mercy and convey our gratitude and thanks to our esteemed elder Faik Kubilay, who immortalized his name.

Dear readers! Nino Sefer rejected civilization, following a path similar to the Greek philosopher Diogenes in behavior, clothing, and shelter. Comfort and peace disturbed him; he led a vagrant life.

NOTE: The following anecdotes are published for the first time. Since swearing was a natural part of Nino Sefer's life, I deemed it appropriate to publish these parts without intervention.

LIVING IN A BARREL

Diogenes lived in a barrel; a part of Nino Sefer's life also passed in barrels. Especially on rainy and cold days, the inside of the barrel was both warm and safe... The only thing that bothered him was the neighborhood children throwing stones at the barrel. Since the stones couldn't pierce the barrel, he didn't mind this rudeness, resting his head on an old towel he found on the road and folded into a pillow, lost in his own thoughts. Most of all, his childhood years passed before his eyes. "What savagery that was! Beatings every day, every day..." he sighed, then regretted it, giving thanks for the beatings: "If it weren't for those beatings, I wouldn't have a free life like I do now. They would have married me off. Endure the troubles of a wife, work constantly for children, run after oxen in the field... No! No! I am content with my life. Let them think I'm 'crazy.' The most beautiful thing in the world is freedom."

CONVERSATION ABOUT "GOD"

As Nino Sefer wandered around, sluggish and tired, a fellow citizen, being generous, invited him for tea. With a shy and timid feeling, Nino Sefer sat on the stool and began to sip the offered tea. The person who invited him was well-off and rich. He asked Nino Sefer:

"Why are you so poor! Didn't you inherit anything from your father?"

"My God was poor, your God was rich. That's why I remained poor!"

The religious man flinched:

"Nino Sefer, you are sinning! God is one and unique!"

"Then why does He make you rich and me poor? Tell me?"

The man paid the money and quietly walked away.

RIGHT-WING YOUTHS

Right-wing youths, knowing that Nino Sefer distributed left-wing magazines in villages, took him among them and tried to persuade him to their right-wing views. One of them started the conversation:

"Communists don't believe in God!"

"I never asked the communists that! I hope it's true!"

"Communists have no honor. Everyone sleeps with each other's wives."

"I don't have a wife. Those who do should think about it."

The right-wing youths didn't know where to begin the conversation.

"If we gave you a magazine, would you distribute it in the villages like the communists' magazines?"

"No! I'll sell them to grocers to make paper bags. If I do that, your magazine will enter every home. And I'll earn some money."

STORKS

Spring has begun to show its face. Storks have returned to Iğdır, reunited with their nests, and are already tidying them up... Nino Sefer stands under an electric pole, watching a pair of storks with curiosity, and mutters to himself: "They don't have money either, but they have homes. They also wander around for a piece of food, but they have a nest together as husband and wife."

Then he suddenly thinks: "Storks eat all the snakes and scorpions around. They don't have food problems!" He looks around, muttering at the crowd in the market: "I didn't have teeth to eat these pimp snakes and scorpions."

HORSE CART

As Nino Sefer walked absentmindedly in the middle of the road, a horse cart, unable to slow down, came towards him. The cart driver pulled the reins with all his might, and the cart slowed down a bit and turned aside, but one of the horses hit Nino Sefer. Nino Sefer was thrown to the ground, rising painfully. The cart driver continued on his way mercilessly. No one came to Nino Sefer's aid. "I hope it's my turn for revenge!"

The next day, an earthquake struck Iğdır. People ran around. Shouts and cries rose to the sky:

"Half of our house collapsed!"

"Our wall cracked!"

"There are no tents left at the Red Crescent!"

"The stable door collapsed! The horses are trapped inside!"

Nino Sefer sat on a stone, watching the scurrying people: "Yesterday, when I fell, no one came to my aid. Today, you have fallen. Even if you beg, I will not come to your aid."

WEDDING

As Nino Sefer wandered through the neighborhood, he heard the sound of a wedding. He mingled with the crowd. He watched those dancing to the accompaniment of drums and zurnas. Nino Sefer asked a young man: "Whose wedding is this?" A young man and his friends tried to tease Nino Sefer:

"Oh, Sefer brother! This is your wedding. Don't you know?"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"We barely found the girl this morning!"

"How old is she?"

"85 years old!"

"When was her funeral?"

APRICOT TREE

As Nino Sefer walked along the road, his eyes fell upon the apricot trees on the other side of the wall. The ripe, yellow-red apricots whetted Nino Sefer's appetite. He jumped over the wall and climbed one of the trees. To avoid being seen, he made a place for himself as high as possible on the tree and sat down. He was eating apricots and putting the pits in his pocket. Due to the barking of dogs, the garden owner realized that there was another theft among the trees lining the road. The dogs stopped under Nino Sefer's tree and barked upwards. The garden owner invited Nino Sefer to come down.

The garden owner recognized Nino Sefer but did not compromise his ruthlessness:

"Sefer brother, tell me the truth! I will charge you for as many apricots as you ate."

"Oh brother! I climbed up there to sleep. If I had eaten apricots, the ground under the tree would be full of pits."

The garden owner walked around the tree and indeed did not find a single fresh apricot pit.

"I'm sorry, Sefer brother! I misjudged you! But don't enter my garden again, or the dogs will tear you apart."

Nino Sefer jumped over the wall, sat down a little further where there were stones, took out the apricot pits from his pocket, and began to crack and eat them. The garden owner, curious about the sound, looked at Nino Sefer over the wall. He shouted from afar: "Oh, shameless one! Those are the pits of my apricots, aren't they?" Nino Sefer continued to crack and eat the pits, replying: "I promise! Next time I'll only crack and eat the pits, I won't touch the apricots. Don't worry at all!"

CINEMA

Uncle Abdullah, who sold tickets at Aras Cinema, was soft-hearted. One day, just as a screening was about to begin, he saw Nino Sefer looking into the cinema with astonished eyes. Uncle Abdullah knew Nino Sefer had no money, so he gestured for him to come in: "Go, sit in any seat you want and watch the movie! I won't charge you."

Nino Sefer, watching a movie for the first time in his life, couldn't make sense of the people and events he saw on the white screen. He thought what he saw was hidden inside the screen. Mountains, cities, beautiful women... His head spun! After the movie ended, he went to Uncle Abdullah: "I saw a beautiful woman there. How can I get her for myself?"

"Come tomorrow! I will deliver that woman to you?"

When evening came, Uncle Abdullah placed the film reel on the table, cut out a film frame with the actress, re-spliced the film strip, and put the reel back in its place.

Nino Sefer returned to Aras Cinema with excitement the next day. Uncle Abdullah handed him the piece of negative film he took from his pocket: "When you hold it up to the light, you will see the woman you loved?"

Nino Sefer held the film frame up to the sun, and indeed saw the woman he had seen yesterday, but he was confused. He turned to Uncle Abdullah, asking in a reproachful tone:

"Now, how am I going to f*** this woman?"

TWO DRUNKS

Late in the evening, as Nino Sefer was pacing along İdirmava Street, two bachelor, completely drunk friends were walking with difficulty, supporting each other. When they saw Nino Sefer in front of them, they couldn't help but tease him:

One of the young men said:

"Sefer brother! I swear to God! If I were married, I would give you my wife!"

The other made the same claim.

"Sefer brother! By God and my religion! If I were married, I would give you both my wife and my sister-in-law."

Nino Sefer understood that the drunks were making fun of him and replied:

"I've given up on your wives. Don't you have your mothers either?"

TELEPHONE POLES

One day, Nino Sefer sat on top of a tractor wagon carrying flour to Aralık district. The driver, who knew Nino Sefer, was not bothered by this. After all, he wasn't going on a long journey! As the tractor moved, Nino Sefer began to count the telephone poles along the road using his fingers. When he reached his tenth finger, since he naturally didn't have an eleventh, he continued counting "one, two..." from the first finger again. He seriously opened and closed his fingers until the tractor reached Aralık. The driver occasionally looked back to check on the situation. Finally, when they arrived in Aralık, the driver asked curiously:

"Sefer brother, what were you counting with your fingers?"

"I was counting how many telephone poles there were from Iğdır to Aralık."

The driver became curious:

"How many were there?"

"Three."

FIRST A WIFE

It is election season. Members of parliament from a party have come to Iğdır as a group. The people show interest in their guests, shake their hands, and offer them tea. At that moment, Nino Sefer is passing in front of the crowd in the coffeehouse. An Iğdır resident points to Nino Sefer and says, "He is the poorest in our district. He doesn't even have a place to stay." The Member of Parliament:

"What is his name?"

"Sefer!"

The Member of Parliament shouts from afar:

"Mr. Sefer, please come join us!"

Sefer approaches with timid and hesitant steps. The Member of Parliament begins:

"Elections will be held soon. I would be happy if you vote for our party. Our aim is to find food, work, and a place to stay for our poor citizens like you!"

Nino Sefer does not remain silent to this generous offer:

"Will you also give me a wife?"

"Alright, agreed! We will also give you a wife. Will you cast your vote?"

"I'll decide after I f*** the wife."

DEMIREL'S HEAD

It was towards the end of 1970. The Nationalist Front Governments had aroused deep hatred in left-wing circles. On such a day, Süleyman Demirel came to Iğdır as Prime Minister. The people surrounded him, and Süleyman Demirel walked at the forefront on the main street towards the rally area. In his speech, Demirel spared no words against Communists, Socialists, and Leftists. This speech bothered the left-wing Nino Sefer.

Demirel descended from the podium. Accompanied by the crowd, he sat down at the open-air tea garden in the Municipality's garden. As he drank Iğdır tea, Nino Sefer pushed through the crowd and stood before Demirel. Demirel was grinning cheerfully. Nino Sefer:

"Prime Minister, what a coincidence! We both have something similar!"

Demirel became curious:

"What is that similarity, my fellow citizen?"

"Your head resembles my ass. With one difference, my ass has a hole, your head has no hole."

RESISTANCE TO THE POLICE

The police were beating two left-wing youths they had caught to death. Nino Sefer also arrived at the scene. He recognized one of the beaten youths. He was a young man full of human love, who often put money in his pocket. Nino Sefer could not tolerate the injustice being done, so he picked up one of the stones he always carried in his pocket, kissed it, and threw it at the head of one of the policemen. Nino Sefer, who had gained skill in throwing stones over the years, hit the police officer exactly in the middle of his forehead as he intended, stunning him. Then Nino Sefer took out a second stone from his pocket, kissed it, and threw it at the other police officer. The stone also hit him exactly in the middle of his forehead, stunning him. The youths seized the opportunity and escaped. When the police officers recovered, they saw Nino Sefer in front of them. Each of the police officers grabbed Nino Sefer by an arm and dragged him to the police station. The newly appointed Commissioner in Iğdır was angry:

"Why did you throw stones at the police?"

"I threw stones to thank the police!"

"How?"

"I love my state very much. When it does the right thing, I kiss the police in the middle of their foreheads. I kissed the stones thoroughly before throwing them."

CARRIAGE WHEEL

It was a rainy day. Nino Sefer didn't like rain. On such days, he found it difficult to find shelter. He would huddle in a corner, squat like a chicken, and wait for the rain to stop. On one such day, he was crouching in a rain-sheltered corner of a shop, looking blankly at the street and the rain. "Rain is a blessing, it's beautiful, but for those with fields, vineyards, and gardens... For people like me, it's torment," he muttered.

While Nino Sefer was lost in thought, a phaeton passed by, and one of its rear wheels came off, rolling on its own in the middle of the street for a while before falling to the ground. The phaeton driver hadn't noticed. Even though Nino Sefer shouted from behind, he couldn't make himself heard. He picked up the wheel from the ground and, just as he used to do in his childhood hoop games, rolled it to where he was sitting and leaned it against the wall.

Soon after, the phaeton driver, realizing he had lost a wheel on the road, set out with another phaeton driver friend to look for it. The phaeton driver retraced his steps. Since the street was empty in the rainy weather, he was sure he would find the wheel. The phaeton passed the corner where Nino Sefer was sheltering from the rain, but they didn't see the wheel. Soon after, the phaeton turned around, following the same path back again. The phaeton driver who had lost his wheel was looking left and right with wide eyes. Suddenly, he saw Nino Sefer and the wheel leaning against the wall. He called out to his friend.

"Stop, stop! I think I found the wheel."

The phaeton driver happily went towards the wheel. His intention was to pick it up and take it. As he reached for the wheel, Nino Sefer warned, "That's my wheel." The phaeton driver, who knew Nino Sefer, knew this was impossible. He even briefly thought of pushing and shoving the barefoot, weak, powerless Nino Sefer. He forcibly hugged the wheel, and ignoring Nino Sefer's curses, placed the wheel on the phaeton, but he didn't realize that his wallet had fallen out of the side pocket of his jacket when he bent down to hug and carry the wheel. He loaded the wheel onto the phaeton. His friend warned him: "Give Nino Sefer some pocket money! Don't break his heart!" The phaeton driver who had lost his wheel was angry: "To hell with him! Am I going to deal with a madman! Drive on!" The phaeton drove away.

As Nino Sefer wanted to sit back in his corner, he saw the wallet on the ground. He picked it up and went to his corner. The wallet was full of money. He muttered to himself: "If he had listened to his friend and wanted to give me pocket money, he would have noticed his wallet had fallen. This wallet is mine now." Nino Sefer, fearing the phaeton driver would return, changed his spot, retreated to a quiet corner again, squatted, and looked at the rain with blank eyes: "Sometimes rain is a blessing to take revenge on cruel people."

CIGARETTE PLEASURE

Nino Sefer doesn't smoke. One day, as he was walking near a coffeehouse where young people who knew him very well were sitting, one of the young men grabbed Nino Sefer by the arm and brought him to the table. Tea was offered. One of the young men smoking a cigarette asked:

"Sefer brother, do you smoke?"

"No!"

"Do you want to try one?"

Nino Sefer didn't object. He took the cigarette, inhaled into his mouth without drawing it into his lungs, and exhaled, then inhaled and exhaled again. The cigarette quickly finished. The young man interjected:

"Sefer brother! That's not how you smoke a cigarette! You take a deep breath, draw it in, and then slowly exhale the smoke through your nose!"

They offered Nino Sefer another cigarette. Nino Sefer took a deep breath from the cigarette as instructed, and as he tried to exhale the smoke that filled his lungs through his nose, he was seized by a violent cough. He looked like he was going to die! He couldn't recover for minutes. He drank a glass of water. He called out to the young man who offered him the cigarette:

"Son of a bitch! I know your intention. You were going to kill me with cigarette smoke and seize my property, weren't you?"

"Oh Sefer brother! What property do you have for me to seize? It's just you and the ragged blanket on you."

"Don't you count this dick that will f*** your mother as my property?"

CONVERSATION AT THE TABLE

A kind citizen, wanting to win Nino Sefer's favor and put some pocket money in his hand, asked him while they were having tea together at a table:

"Sefer brother! How do the shopkeepers treat you?"

"Some treat me well, some kick me out the door!"

"Do you harm those who kick you out?"

"I curse their mothers and wives..."

"Don't these curses anger them? For example, they might beat you."

Nino Sefer spoke in a whisper, as if wanting only the person at the table to hear:

"Believe me, everyone is fed up with their mothers and wives. They feel relieved when cursed. They enjoy it!"

FINISHING SCHOOL EXTERNALLY

The young people had gathered Nino Sefer among them and were chatting. A well-intentioned young man began:

"Sefer abi, did you ever go to school?"

"No!"

"You could finish primary school externally if you want?"

"Then what?"

"You could finish middle school externally?"

"Then what?"

"You could finish high school externally?"

"Then what?"

"You could become a lawyer externally!"

Nino Sefer interpreted the phrase 'lawyer externally' as living on the streets again.

"Oh brother! I already always sleep and wake up outside. If I'm going to sleep and wake up outside even after becoming a lawyer, why should I go through all this trouble?"

GEESE BLOCKING THE ROAD

Nino Sefer's path led him to İdirmava. There were dozens of geese in the ditch. Somehow, one of the geese stretched its neck and came at Nino Sefer at full speed. Nino Sefer ran back. He waited a bit. Thinking things had calmed down, he wanted to walk again. This time, 3-4 geese chased after him at once. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Nino Sefer shouted from afar:

"I had nowhere to go but my streets. You took that right away from me too. I'll f*** your mothers and wives."

YOUNG LOVER

The young people, who loved Nino Sefer very much, had him among them and were chatting. One of the young men pointed to a friend and said to Nino Sefer: "Sefer brother! This friend of ours is in love. He has stopped eating and drinking. He's very down! What do you recommend?"

Nino Sefer looked at the young man, waving his hand in the air as if to say, "look at his pleasure." "Don't you have anything else to do besides being in love? You wander around idly from morning till night. I don't have time to scratch my head. If you want, come with me and let's wander the streets, and you'll see if I can find time to scratch my head with the worry of feeding myself and finding a place to sleep? Then you'll forget about love and passion!"

INSULT

A young man who offered him tea asked:

"Sefer abi! They insult you a lot. Doesn't it bother you?"

Nino Sefer leaned his head towards the man and said:

"Oh brother! Know this well! Insult shames the one who insults, not the one who is insulted like me."

DON'T TALK SO MUCH!

Nino Sefer's lunch usually consisted of halva in bread. He made it a habit to find bread from one place and halva from another to fill his stomach. As he passed in front of coffeehouses, someone would always invite Nino Sefer to their table, either out of kindness or to tease him. On one such day, as Nino Sefer was eating his halva in bread, which he had painstakingly put together, he couldn't tolerate the noisy conversations at the table:

"Be a little quiet! Learn to listen. God gave us two ears to listen a lot, and one tongue to speak little! You, on the other hand, seem to have ten tongues!"

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING

They asked Nino Sefer:

"What is the best thing in the world?"

"To be free without money! Once you have money, you are a slave."

GIVING WAY

One day, Nino Sefer encountered the arrogant and rich man of the district in a very narrow street. One of them had to give way. The arrogant rich man, who looked down on Nino Sefer, said, "I won't give way to a vagrant like you!" Nino Sefer stepped aside and said, "I will!"

WATERMELON

An unfortunate incident occurred in Iğdır: right-wing and left-wing youths fought, and Nino Sefer was caught in the middle, unintentionally becoming a target for both sides' fists. A few days later, a truckload of Adana watermelons was offered for sale to the public in front of the Municipality. The entrepreneur who brought the watermelons was a foreigner. To show the quality of the watermelons, he cut one in half and placed it on top of the pile. The weather was hot. Nino Sefer craved watermelon. He didn't have five kuruş in his pocket. He approached the seller:

"The color of the watermelon was beautiful, how was its taste?"

The seller stood up, saying "Excellent!", cut a piece from the middle of the watermelon, and offered it to Nino Sefer on the tip of his knife. Nino Sefer liked the taste: "Are all the watermelons here as sweet as this one?" he asked. The seller was confident: "Which watermelon do you want me to cut? If its color and taste are not the same, then don't call me Arif from Adana." The seller randomly picked a watermelon and cut it in half. He cut a piece from the middle of the right side and offered it to Nino Sefer. Nino Sefer liked it but didn't show it: "Give me from the middle of the left side!" Nino Sefer, who ate the watermelon offered to him on the tip of the knife with relish, slowly walked away, muttering: "I'll f*** the taste of your watermelon's right and left sides, and our right-wing and left-wing youths."

STONE FIGHT

Nino Sefer's greatest fear was getting into a stone fight, especially with elementary school students. One day, Nino Sefer's path unfortunately coincided with the time the elementary school let out. The children shouted "Nino! Nino!" and pelted Nino Sefer with stones. Nino Sefer always had stones in his pocket, ready for a fight or revenge. With years of experience, Nino Sefer managed to avoid being hit by the stones thrown at him, but every stone he threw hit its target, exploding on the children's heads. Five children's heads were covered in blood. Parents took the children by the hand to the police station and complained about Nino Sefer. The police caught Nino Sefer and brought him in. The police asked:

"Did you break these children's heads?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"They threw stones at me, and I retaliated."

The police, realizing Nino Sefer was right, released him, but this time the parents rebelled. Nino Sefer turned to the parents and said:

"If my head had been broken in five places, which children would I have been able to complain about to the police? Just think about it, you faithless ones!!"

NINO SEFER IN THE BOOK "IĞDIR SEVDASI"

NOTE: I bring to your attention the information about Nino Sefer provided by my esteemed fellow citizen Cemal Kılıçlı in his book "Iğdır Sevdası," published in 2002.

(Every society has its riff-raff. The French call them clochard; the Germans, penner; the English, vagabond or tramp. Iğdır also embraced these vagrants, idlers, loafers, and drunkards; it tried, albeit with difficulty, to maintain a coexistence. Poor Behçet, Baxşo, Nino Sefer, Oho Sılo, Ali Çavuş, Deli Hakim are some of these names. Mücahit)

Nino Sefer, originally from Arapkir village, was the nephew of Pirli Eli. Pirli Eli was known as a skilled pole vaulter.

There are various rumors about Nino Sefer's illness. According to one account, Nino Sefer, a lively young man, danced the yallı (halay) at a wedding until he was exhausted; when the sweat on him cooled in the evening frost, he caught pneumonia. In the days following this illness, Nino Sefer lost his mental health.

Another account blames his family. His siblings condemned Nino Sefer to live in a chicken coop every day; not content with this, they beat him violently. The child did not grow up healthy, becoming detached from society.

"I'LL F*** YOUR MOTHER AND WIFE!."

In his early years, Nino Sefer dressed smartly. With his suit and tie, he gave the impression of a gentleman.

An engineer from Istanbul came to Iğdır on duty for the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ). As soon as he set foot in the district for the first time, his first task was to ask where a good hotel was. Seeing Nino Sefer approaching him with a gentlemanly air from across the street, he stepped forward:

"Excuse me, sir! I have a request!"

"Speak!"

"Do you know a good hotel?"

"I'll f*** your mother and wife..."

The engineer hesitated. He thought, if the smartly dressed person in town spoke so crudely, who knows how rude the others might be. Out of fear, he walked around without asking any questions and barely managed to find a hotel. Unfortunately, he was destined to spend a night in the worst hotel in Iğdır.

"PROSECUTOR SIR..."

Nino Sefer got along very well with the officials who came from outside. He even confided