t is impossible not to be astonished by the immense effort a person exerts to kill and be killed. In their pursuit of annihilating humanity, individuals transform the systematic nature of their actions into a flawless process. First, they establish policies to convince the masses of this idea. Then, they create advanced technology, a strong economy, and a market for it. They build massive factories, employ the latest technological advancements, and mobilize scientists, engineers, and workers. As the process unfolds, the masses, in one way or another, become complicit. The means and methods of war, along with its true causes, are concealed—or at least, that is the pretense. As the inevitable end approaches, death is inescapable. The masses, yearning for the life promised to them, desire it at the cost of strangers' lives. At this stage, both the killer and the killed are gathered under the banner of grand ideals.
The representation of an object through images redefines the object each time in relation to its reality. However, the copy that emerges from the image's close proximity to reality sabotages the original and causes destruction. These images, which are direct representations of reality, initially manipulate the original through framing and later through the viewer’s gaze, severing their connection to the truth. The new reality presented to the eye is identical in appearance to the image it represents, yet it has been transformed metaphorically in meaning. In its simplest form, an image that represents reality also manipulates its own truth.
When images replace reality, the accumulated definitions imposed upon representation become insignificant. In the distance that opens between the phenomenon and its concept, truth becomes unattainable. The signs that emerge in this in-between space divert perception in different directions, rendering observation futile. Thus, it becomes impossible to answer the question of what an atomic bomb exploding over a city and thousands of people, or missiles raining down like a storm, truly signify in the human mind and what grand ideals they are justified by. Nor is such a question even posed.
When considering the existence and function of a state-of-the-art warplane, it does not necessarily correspond to the destruction it brings upon thousands of lives—or perhaps it corresponds to nothing at all. Everything unfolds in plain sight. Massacres and destruction are evident, yet their true meaning is flawlessly concealed. The military term camouflage is so effective that, while hiding its object, it also erases its meaning. Under a relentless downpour of missiles, invisible like the deceptive drizzle known as ahmak ıslatan (the fool-soaking rain), we continue to live like fools.