Between 2016 and 2018, Turkey lived under a state of emergency following the attempted coup d’état on July 15, 2016. During this time, thousands of Turkish professors, teachers, and unionists opposed to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regime were dismissed. Accused of having ties to terrorist organizations, they were marginalized in society. Awarded the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2026 Berlinale, Yellow Letters, directed by Ilker Catak, delves into their fate and awakens painful memories among these former educators.
From our correspondent in Ankara, Can Irmak Özinanir, 44, blinks at the cinema’s exit. He has just seen the film Yellow Letters, which he has been hearing about for days. This former academic was dismissed by decree in 2017 in Turkey. The film partially tells his story, the years of uncertainty, waiting for a favorable court decision. “Uncertainty has been the predominant feeling in recent years. Never knowing what will happen. It is a period of lingering uncertainty. There were times when I had great confidence in myself because we had great solidarity. But there were also times when I felt very alone and it led to anger towards those around me,” Can Irmak Özinanir explains.
“No need for the state to live, to survive”
We are in the corridors of the renowned Ankara University, chosen by director Ilker Catak to start his film. Mustafa Kemal Coşkun, 56, is among the academics dismissed by decree. He eventually reintegrated three years ago after years of odd jobs. “When you are a communist, you learn quickly. I learned a lot of things. For example, after being dismissed, I started a consultancy firm. Later, I took the entrance exams to Ankara University and joined the computer science faculty. I learned programming. I also learned a program called Da Vinci Resolve. I sat at my desk and learned. We don’t need the state to live, to survive,” he confides.
No court decision will bring justice
In central Ankara, in the Kizilay district, the Zurafa bar opened just over a year ago. Managed by Veli Sacilik, 49, with his partner. Amputated of his right arm during a prison stay, he claims it’s the only job he can do today. Like many civil servants, he lost his job during the state of emergency. So when Yellow Letters was released, he took his 15-year-old daughter to watch the film: “I took my daughter to see the film because she is the same age as the character Ezgi in the film, and she experienced very similar periods. I wanted her to understand what her father and mother went through.”
Like other dismissed individuals, Veli Sacilik accuses the European Court of Human Rights of abandoning them to their fate. The Court had indeed stated that all domestic legal avenues must be exhausted before examining their cases.
For now, reintegrations are happening slowly. Some have returned to university, while others are still awaiting a decision from the Council of State. But they insist: no court decision will bring back these ten years of wandering.
