Can Divit : "Erkenci Kus"/Early Bird

Can Divit, January 2018: "Carpe Diem!"

Author's Note: Ever since the first episode of EK, I've always wondered about that kiss on the balcony.  Can is so sober towards Polen and they had zero chemistry on the the show! So what possessed or triggered Can Divit to kiss her that night?

If you're wondering who Albatross Widsom is, please read "Imprint" !! Link is the top comment.

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My boarding school friend Miraç Aksoy and I had drinks recently. He works for Amnesty International in France and was visiting his family in Istanbul. We got to talking about his work & life... and I learn that he's engaged to be married to a colleague and fellow activist, a Cambodian-French woman named Mony Dubois.

As we catchup, he talks about an escalating situation in Cambodia where land activists are being imprisoned by the corrupt government. They're enabling land grabbing and some of those projects are impacting local communities around the country. People are being displaced and forcefully removed from their homes, left, right and center!

He says that it's risky for journalists and activists in Cambodia but that he was going there with Mony as one of her school mates, Tep Vanny, has been imprisoned.    You see, Tep was arrested in 2013 after a protest, and only 4 years later in 2017, she was handed a 2.5 year jail sentence for "intentional violence with aggravating circumstances".   In other words, Tep has been and will be in jail for 6 years for a peaceful protest against the government!

It is one of many attempts at Amnesty to repeal and rescind her sentence and Miraç needs the help of a photographer to document this trip, and if allowed, capture Tep's living conditions in jail. Oh.... what the hell? Sign me up, I tell him... and within 2 days, I'm off to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

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Miraç and Mony weren't exaggerating about the risks of being an activist in Cambodia. It is one of the most dangerous places for persons fighting for a cause and we're treated exactly as we expected. The immigration officials hold us for 6 hours before releasing us with no explanation for the wait. The hotel is a foreigner friendly place but the front desk informs us that everything is monitored and surveilled, read between the lines, that is video, audio, conversations, meetings and what not!

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We've been here almost a month and have not been granted access to Tep but I got a chance to photograph and catalog other activists and protesters on the streets of the city. As a way of dispersing the protestors, the police indiscriminately charge into the crowds and start attacking everyone. I've managed to escape with minor injuries and starting to wonder when my number will be up! But my courage raises under fire.... and I'm not going to back down to this brutality and intimidation, not a chance in hell!

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Miraç and Mony are meeting a contact who says he'll be able to arrange a meeting with Tep. I'm waiting at a cafe nearby in case the meeting is expedited and they need my services. Next thing I see is hoards of locals running towards something.... and I know something is very wrong!

I follow the crowd and reach the spot where everyone is congregated. Miraç and Mony have both been beaten up pretty badly... Miraç more than Mony and he's unconscious and lying on the ground in a pool of blood. I rush to them and ask the crowds to step back and give them some air. Mony, who is very alert, had called someone on the phone.... and now we wait for help!