Is it about being right or being wrong? There may be those who oppose your ideas. In the end, whether your decision is right or wrong may never be fully known. Truth is a double-edged sword, especially if you refuse to follow predictable patterns. So let us say what it truly means to stand on the right side of history.

It means launching an operation in Cyprus to end the suffering of both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, who were massacred even by their own kin, to bring peace to the island.

It means determining the place of the "other” according to conscience and morality. It means raising your voice against the greatest genocide in Europe since World War II, the one committed in Srebrenica. It means running to their aid, sharing your bread, and, while nearly 100,000 Muslims are being slaughtered in Bosnia, crying out, "Srebrenica!” while everyone else keeps their silence.

Standing on the right side of history means extending a helping hand to your brother in Azerbaijan. While the world, forgetting those massacred in Khojaly, waits for blood to flow once more, it means stitching truth into history thread by thread. It means standing by those whose homes and hearths were stolen with blood, supporting those who fight with their lives for a single inch of their land.

At Davos, in 2009, it means daring to say "killer” to the killer’s face without hesitation. It means standing on the right side of history by confronting the entire world while standing alone.

It means shouting again and again at the United Nations, while the whole world will eventually accept the oppression, that the world is bigger than five.

It means taking the map in your hands and holding the rulers of the world accountable, asking: "Where are the borders of the State of Israel?” and calling genocide by its name.

It means saying "stop” to Haftar in Libya during the civil war. While Tripoli, home to the Government of National Accord, is under siege, while the army rains death upon its own people, it means declaring: "I am here.”

When the world is divided as sharply as black and White along the Russia-Ukraine line, standing on the right side of history means being the only country able to speak with both states. It means striving for a cease-fire. It means hosting both sides of the war in Türkiye, laying the groundwork for the Istanbul Agreement so that blood may stop flowing.

Or far away, in Africa, it means healing the wounds opened by colonial powers. It means becoming the key to peace without ever bearing the stain of colonialism. It means resolving problems that have remained unsolved for years through hourslong meetings in Ankara.

Being conscious, standing in the right place, standing with what is right and with the rightful everywhere in the world, that is what it means to be Turkish.

While millions are displaced in Syria, while Syrians are driven from their own lands and become refugees, while they lose their lives in the blue waters they see as hope just to breathe, standing on the right side of history means opening your doors to them. While helping Syrians, it is also being able to say clearly: Syria belongs to Syrians, and Syrian land is Syrian. After 61 years of oppression and 13 years of bloody civil war, it means drinking tea on Mount Qasioun with the architects of the revolution and earning the love of people who return to their homeland with dignity.