WEBVTT

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I said I wasn't excited,
but look what I've done.

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I dropped the papers as soon as I came.

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I'm really excited;

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this is so different from being on stage.

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You're all welcome.

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I'm really excited,
but nobody believes me.

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(Laughter)

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I'm excited, I see it now.

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Well, did I say welcome? Yes, I did.

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I don't know who shared what
on social media,

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but it's something like this,
and many of you have read it and asked me.

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"Levent Ülgen, who is playing
the role of Sinan in Akasya Durağı,

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graduated in Physics
from METU with a grade 4."

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(Laughter)

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Well, I brought along
my academic record with me.

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(Laughter)

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Honestly, thanks to my grades.

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(Applause)

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"It was 1979. I entered METU
in the prep year.

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Then there was a strike.

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(Laughter)

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In the first grade,
I hardly learned English.

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Disgusting fights every day.

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First semester: 0,83.

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Second semester: 1,50.

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(Laughter)

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Failed, repeat.

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(Laughter)

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I was studying first grade
in the second year: 2,25.

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Second semester: 2,74.

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Second grade: 2,03; maths,
complex calculus burnt me up.

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After that, 2,17. I passed to third grade.

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2,47.

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2,83.

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Last grade: 3,07. Honour list.

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(Applause)

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And last semester: 4,00!"

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(Applause)

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Academic record, by God!

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I took lessons in Silicone Technology
and History of World Theatre.

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One of them was optional,
but did I finish with a 4,00?

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Yes, I did.

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Do I have a degree? Yes.

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Some don't even have degrees.

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(Applause)

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Thank God, I have two big diplomas -

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one from METU and one from Hacettepe.

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That's it, keep this between us, okay?

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Everyone thinks I finished with a 4,0,
but they think I finished in 4 years.

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Keep this between us.

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But there's a 4,00 on the academic record,

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I can show it.

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Well, I went to high school
in Bozkır, Konya, for two years

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because of my father's job.

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Third year, we were appointed to Ankara.

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My father was an officer,

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so you know the political issues.

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My father came home one night.

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He gave me 250 liras,
which was the currency then, and said,

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"I enrolled you in the course.

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I paid for the first one.
This is the second payment.

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You can have fun
in a bar or nightclub with this

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or you can pay the fee,

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get into university, study properly,

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and save yourself,

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because I cannot give you a factory,
a shop, a workbench, nor a farm;

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the only way out is by studying."

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That night, I cried until morning.

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I was like, "Oh, why does he say that?

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And why is our financial situation bad?"

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The next day,
I was enrolled in the course.

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While I was doing the course,

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I began to get interested in theatre.

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I started watching plays.

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The first play - I didn't have
the chance to go to the theatre

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because we were outside Ankara
for a long time -

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the first play that I watched
was in the Ankara Art Theater,

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"Sakıncalı Piyade" by Uğur Mumcu.

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I was very impressed,
I really liked the theatre.

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It was like another world.

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Then I started to watch theatre
once a week on the weekends

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when I went to class.

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Then we took the exams.

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The results didn't come in
two minutes like they do now,

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we had to wait 2-3 months.

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While waiting for the results,

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I was walking down
Menekşe street with my friends,

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and I saw the Ankara
Public Theatre's signboard.

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At that moment,
I said I would be an actor.

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"I will be an actor," I said.
My friends laughed at me.

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I went, there were courses.

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I was enrolled.

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One month later, the news came,

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I had gained entry
to study Physics at METU.

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Nice.

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So I passed the first stage
for my father at METU, a good university.

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By the way, it was my 17th choice.

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(Laughter)

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We make 18 choices, mine was the 17th.

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18th was Language and History, Theatre.

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Theatre courses, METU,
prep school, I hardly passed.

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My English was always bad,
it was always a problem.

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By the way, in all those five years
of studying Physics

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I never read and understood
a question in English.

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Always guessing: if it gives
the acceleration, it asks about the speed;

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if it gives the speed, 
it asks about the time.

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Well, maths was easy; when I saw
"find the value", I could solve it,

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but I didn't solve them by understanding.

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Let me say that.

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I could hardly pass prep school.

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First year, as I said,
I had fail grades on my academic record.

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My father thought the reason
for that was my interest in theatre.

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But he had an interest in art too.

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He read poems well.

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He even wrote poems; at least he tried.

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I said, "Don't mess with my theatre
and I'll bring you that diploma."

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Promise? Promise.

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That's the reason for my rebelling.

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In order to escape to theatre quickly,

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I saved my allowance by doing theatre

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in the Ankara Public Theatre
and the Ankara Art Theatre.

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I did theatre,

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and as soon as I presented
this diploma to my father,

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the first thing I did
was to run to the Conservatory.

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I got into the theatre department.

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I swear, I graduated, ranking first again.

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But this time it was not like...
I really graduated, ranking first.

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Then began the story
of the State Theatres.

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I entered the State Theatres.

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I was appointed to Trabzon.

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In those times, I loved the theatre.

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On the first day
when I watched the theatre,

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it was like love at first sight.

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It was like that for me.

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It was like a monster inside me.

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I couldn't sleep without it.
Even my dreams were about theatre.

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I went to Trabzon as a graduate,
an actor and an employee

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for the State Theatre,

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but I felt tremendous pressure
because of my political views.

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Because I started in Ankara State Theatre,

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continued in Ankara Art Theatre,
graduated from METU;

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so I don't need to say
what was my opinion.

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I felt great pressure on me
from the administration.

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Or I thought so.

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And I was interfering
in all kinds of mistakes, injustices,

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and I was opposing them,
I was an opponent, a rebel to the core.

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That made the administration angry,

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and they imposed many punishments on me.

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And I started to get tired, afraid,

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and I felt daunted.

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One night, I said, "There's no sense
in dissenting and opposing so much,

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I better get along
with the administration.

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I give up."

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Just then, I saw books
I loved in the library.

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There were books by Nazım.

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I took one of them,
Bursa Prison, and read it.

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He spent 13 years in prison, 13 years.

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There he wrote poems and sagas.

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He taught painting to the people there.

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He learnt weaving from them.
He resisted for 13 years.

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And I couldn't resist 13 months, huh?

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How shameful! I felt ashamed.

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I said, "The issue
is not about being captured,

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it's all about standing firm."

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And there, for the first time,
I decided to stand firm.

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Then, while my life continued in Trabzon,

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Melih Cevdet Anday
came to Trabzon one day.

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I was opposing the administration again.

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I was vociferous.

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It got Melih Cevdet Anday's attention.

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He said, "Can I ask
you something, young man?"

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"Sure," I said.

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"Do you know Galileo?" he said.

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And I said, "Of course,
I know Galileo, sir, I'm a physicist,

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and Bertolt Brecht's play about him
was performed in Ankara Theatre.

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I've played in it;
it was my first play as a trainee."

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"Well," he said,

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"do you know Giordano Bruno?"

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"Of course," I said, 
"there is a play about him too.

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I've read it as well."

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"I liked it very much," I said.

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And in the story I'm going to tell
later on, I had the opportunity to play

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the role of Giordano Bruno
in Ankara State Theatre.

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"Yes, I know him," I said.

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"So, which one is right?" he asked,

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"Which one do you approve of?"

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"Giordano Bruno, of course," I said.

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He said, "Why?"

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"Because Galileo had given up,
became scared, took a step back;

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he said that the world
wasn't the centre of the universe,

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but he took a step back
when he saw the inquisition's tormentors,

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he purposely lied.

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Okay, he went home, and under house arrest
he wrote his last work,

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but he still denied himself.

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But is Giordano like that?

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He resisted torture
from the Inquisition for seven years,

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and they even nailed his tongue
to his palate to silence him,

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but he tore his palate and said,

00:10:04.424 --> 00:10:05.620
'God is within every man,

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the world isn't the centre
of the universe.'

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Of course, I support
and believe this man."

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He said, "How old are you, my son?"

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I said, "28."

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He said, "Let's talk again
when you're 48."

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(Laughter)

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I'm 55 years old, and thank God,
I still believe in Giordano Bruno,

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I still defend him.

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(Applause)

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Of course, it's impossible for me to be
as stubborn and brave as Giordano Bruno,

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but at least Giordano Bruno
is always in my heart.

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And the day when I played
the role in Ankara State Theatre,

00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:43.129
it was Saturday.

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I experienced something
which caused me to appreciate

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the reason and determination
of my profession choice

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and my persistence, my stubbornness.

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There were some lively youngsters there.

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And some of our friends said,

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"Some people brought along
middle school children.

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This is a dense play, 
should we perform it?"

00:11:06.531 --> 00:11:10.449
Because Giordano agonises
and is burnt at the end.

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He even tears his tongue
while being burnt.

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"Never mind," we said, "let's do it."
And we performed it.

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When it was over, 
some of the students ran to the exit.

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From their clothes,
it was obvious they were from the slums,

00:11:24.119 --> 00:11:28.457
that they were poor.

00:11:29.758 --> 00:11:31.608
Well, they wanted to talk to me.

00:11:32.132 --> 00:11:35.752
They said the name of their school.
I don't remember its name,

00:11:35.889 --> 00:11:38.509
but probably it was
in a poor neighbourhood.

00:11:38.887 --> 00:11:40.817
I asked if they were from middle school.

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They said they were from high school.

00:11:42.651 --> 00:11:43.892
"High school first grade?"

00:11:43.892 --> 00:11:45.242
"No, last grade," they said.

00:11:45.242 --> 00:11:48.175
I said, "But there's a university
entrance exam tomorrow."

00:11:48.175 --> 00:11:51.747
And they said that their teachers
brought them here to reassure them

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and not to think
of the exam on the last day.

00:11:54.389 --> 00:11:55.909
"How nice," I said.

00:11:55.909 --> 00:11:57.549
Then a girl came over ...

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I'm sorry, I find this really moving.

00:12:06.478 --> 00:12:09.598
She said, "I want to go to university,

00:12:09.598 --> 00:12:12.372
I know that it's important
to study at a university.

00:12:12.518 --> 00:12:16.428
But after watching this,
I'm definitely going to university."

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It was a record for me to gain
even one person in this profession.

00:12:21.751 --> 00:12:23.011
The greatest success.

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(Applause)

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I knew I'd be excited,
but I've never thought I'd cry.

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I really never felt the ebb and flow
in my interest in theatre.

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I decided from the very beginning,
I fell in love from the beginning

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and always loved it,
because I believed in theatre.

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I believed that theatre would make me
a truer, better person.

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I hope it did.

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Thank you.

00:12:56.783 --> 00:12:58.043
(Applause)