Lata is a wound in my heart!

Lata is just one of the crimes against humanity the world has experienced!

Lata isn’t only a drama or a tragedy!

It contains a lot more than these, and despite having taken place in the near past (December 14, 1992) it hasn’t yet been fully uncovered; however, it is the most brutal and direct expression of certain genocidal ideas.

These atrocities from history must not be forgotten, and the perpetrators of such crimes against humanity shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it. For this reason, any footnote we might add to history is extremely significant and valuable.

Life sometimes leaves you face to face with suffering. I think this is how I confronted Lata. Many years ago, I found out about this tragedy through Oktay Chkotua’s writings; I was devastated to learn what had happened and the feeling stayed with me for days. After some years, I decided to participate in a short story competition, and the first subject I thought of was Lata, which then developed into this book. I completed my story with Oktay Chkotua’s support, and it surprised and excited me to see that another door had opened for me. I decided it was time to write a screenplay about the tragedy of Lata. After writing the synopsis, treatment, and script for a prospective film, I was fortunate enough to get to write the story of the Lata tragedy, with advice and extremely valuable documents and information provided to me by Selçuk Sımsım.

This was both a huge source of pride for me, and an inexpressible, devastating pain…

While writing about this tragedy, I went into the deep and dark dungeons of history and was confronted by the cruel face of humanity as I pored over documents. Then I realised that humanity hadn’t learned its lesson from these events. War and its coldness are the same everywhere!

Many thanks to Oktay Chkotua and Selçuk Sımsım who accompanied me on this painful journey and helped me discover the unknown… This novel was made possible by their support. They have also played an important role in passing on the story of the Lata tragedy to younger generations. I’m glad they exist…

I would also like to thank my husband, who was the first person to read this novel and who provided me with ideas

This novel bears witness to history, and I hope it will contribute to the international understanding of the injustice we have suffered.

I’m also hopeful that the film script I have written based on this novel will one day make it to the silver screen. The screenplay is complete and currently in the hands of the director, and I would like to imagine all of us watching the film at the cinema one day. It will be exciting for me to embark on this journey with the support of those ready to do all they can, and to break new ground together.

I hope all our dreams come true one day…

May the kin we lost in the massacre at Lata rest in peace. May such pain never be experienced again and may no more crimes against humanity be committed.

 KUTARBA PINAR KORKMAZ