Bayrak (The Flag)

“The Flag is the second part of a video series about the state­-controlled national day ceremonies of the Turkish Republic. Shot during Children’s Day, on April 23, which marks the establishment of the new Turkish Parliament, and the official demise of the Ottoman Empire back in 1920, this split screen film documents a pompous patriotic performance devised by elders to be performed by children. 

Hosted by the mayor and governor of Istanbul, with the participation of a high-ranking general, the ceremony features poems and oaths read aloud by primary schools students, while patriotism becomes a hard-lined nationalism. 

The Flag is recited passionately by a girl who vows to 'destroy the nest of any bird who doesn’t salute [her country’s] flag in flight' and 'dig the grave of anyone who doesn’t look at the flag the way [she does]'.”

Köken Ergun in a statement to PLATFORM:VB (July 2015)