ESKİŞEHİR - Young men and women who opened the Polen Youth Culture House in memory of the 33 dream travelers who were massacred in Suruç said, "Our struggle will live on in Polen Youth and Culture House.

 

Polen Youth Culture House was established in Eskişehir in order to keep alive the memories of 33 people who were killed in the bomb attack of ISIS on July 20, 2015 in the Suruç district of Urfa, where they came from all around Turkey to bring toys to children in Kobanê Canton of Northern and Eastern Syria. Photographs of those who lost their lives in the massacre are hung in the culture house, which was opened on March 6, was named after Polen Ünlü, one of the 33 young people who were massacred in the ISIS attack.

 

 

Sinem Çelebi, one of the founders of the culture house, who told that 33 murdered dream travelers had dreams on their way to Kobanê, said, “One of these dreams was to bring toys to children. We took the fallen flag from them and said, 'No dream will be left unrealized". We needed an alternative venue. We set out to meet this need. We believed that with a collective effort, young people would come together. We intend to offer many courses here. Musical instruments, language lessons and self-defense courses for women are a few of them. Our classes are named after the young people who were massacred in Suruç."

 

THE LIBRARY OF THE DREAMS PASSENGERS

 

Stating that they also established a library for high school students to read and improve themselves in the culture house, Çelebi said, “We have also built a women's room here. We wanted them to maintain their self-defense in a country where women are oppressed, subjected to violence and murdered. We run errands together. Many rooms have bookshelves. They came to us from the cities of Kurdistan. We have also established a library called "Dream Travelers" and we continue to keep our friends's memories alive. We started a campaign on social media. We will continue to expand the campaign. As the Polen Youth Culture House, we invite people here.”

 

'AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT THAT KILLS ART'

 

Adnan Özcan, one of the founders of the culture house said: “My purpose here is to learn politics, science and philosophy. Against the power that kills art, I was looking for a place to define myself. From chess workshop to movie days, from reading books to movie discussions, we learn a lot here. We set up cinema workshops and organize events where we can socialize. Here, we want to fulfill the wishes of our friends whom we lost at the ISIS attack. We have a lot of people to reach, a long way to go. We want young people in Eskişehir to join us here.” 

 

Mentioning that the culture house is not just a place created with an emotional reflex, Müslüm Koyun said, “We have opened this place for us and for the society. We have set ourselves a goal and we will continue to move forward on this path. The subject here is the oppressed peoples, the youth, the women and workers."