#azcev

I would like to talk a little bit about Azize and how good of a job she is doing (or not doing, sadly) when it comes to motherhood. Beforehand I should probably add that, unlike many other viewers, I don’t dislike Azize as a character. She’s been accused of being dumb and impulsive and narrow-minded and all sorts of things but I have to say, considering all the problems she is facing and everything she is going through, she is handling life as well as she can. When I first saw Azize, I found her to be a quite refreshing character, actually. Above all things, she is passionate. And she puts that passion into everything she does, be it her duty or her love or scolding her children (I admit: I love the scenes where Azize gets tantrums over her kids. She is all the bit of the all-time-Turkish-mom who would throw her shoe after her children or chase them with the rolling pit). But despite her passion; her love for Cevdet; her thoroughness when it comes to her job as a nurse; her commitment to the rebellion… there is one thing Azize is genuinely struggling with: Being a mom to three children. (Four, technically; the one she keeps in her womb since over a year because she knows she won’t be able to handle one more.)

Sometimes we look at Ali Kemal, Hilal or Yıldız (mostly Yıldız) and complain about what awful actions they engage into. But if you truly think about it… wouldn’t it be Azize’s job to educate her children on how to act like a decent human being? Can we really blame Ali Kemal for being a brute; Hilal for being too cold and too withdrawn; Yıldız for being selfish and not knowing that money and wealth are not enough to make her happy? Admittedly, however hard a parent may try, sometimes children develop the way they do. Sometimes there is nothing you can do as a mom or a dad to change your child, after a certain point. But when I think about all the mistakes either Ali Kemal, Yıldız or Hilal ever did in this season, and how Azize reacted to those mistakes… I have to say, I wonder if she couldn’t have prevented most mistakes her children do, if she acted more like a mother should act.

Let’s start with Ali Kemal:

In the first episode we see Ali Kemal as a young man of 20-21 years. He has no job. He has no education. He spends his days getting drunk and wasting his time. Azize sees that the boy has a problem (she sees that much, at least). She feels that her son is struggling with something and won’t talk to her about it. But she is absolutely clueless on what his problem might be, even though the “problem” (Yıldız) is right in under her nose. Remember episode 3 where Ali Kemal and Yıldız attend the ball together with Cevdet. Cevdet (who didn’t see his children for seven years) spends five minutes in their company and starts giving the two of them suspicious looks. He immediately senses the tention between the two: Something is wrong, something doesn’t quite fit, something feels OFF between Ali Kemal and Yıldız. And Cevdet gets this through ONE LOOK. One really wonders how Azize, who literally has been living under the same roof with these two couldn’t sense something. Couldn’t feel that whatever Ali Kemal’s problem is, it has to do with Yıldız. It’s incredible how outrageously ignorant Azize is when it comes to her children. Kinda makes me wonder if she really doesn’t see or if she chooses to ignore it deliberately, because she has enough problems to deal with outside of her children (like snapping at her traitor husband, who’s not actually a traitor). How would you guys have found a scene in the beginning of S1, where Azize sits Yıldız down in private and says: “Alright, child. Tell me what’s wrong between you and Ali Kemal.” Don’t know about you, but I kinda would have liked it.

Let’s go on with Hilal:

If anyone is the perfect example to show how ignorant and utterly blind Azize is about her children, then it is Hilal. Again, I’m going to make the comparison to Cevdet, because man, is Cevdet a good father and man, does he know his kids: Despite the fact he didn’t see Hilal growing up and the last time he saw her was when Hilal was about 10 years old… Cevdet takes one look at Hilal and sees her very soul. Remember episode 10 when Cevdet visited Hilal in her cell and told her: “Your duty is to live. Your duty is to WRITE these things you witness and to pass them on to the generations to come”. It always fascinates me, how Cevdet who didn’t even see his child growing up, knew that Hilal was good with words and good at writing, whileas Vasili (whose child grew up under his nose) said: “What do you know of writing, soldier? Everyone should do what he knows best” when Leon suggested to write the article on the bombing. Vasili looked like such a bad parent in that scene, and I am truly sorry to point it out but… is Azize any different than Vasili? Cevdet took one glance at Hilal and he seriously suspects Hilal of being Halit Ikbal. Meanwhile Azize: Halit Ikbal’s original handwritten texts turn out from Hilal’s very room and Azize immediately believes that Hilal is only a mediator for the real Halit Ikbal, without a second thought. She doesn’t even consider that… Hilal… might actually… BE THE REAL HALIT IKBAL?! Like, please, Azize, open your eyes, for God’s sakes! The original texts of Halit Ikbal appear in your daughter’s room; your daughter who has her nose burried in a book most of the time, who sits on her desk and writes something whenever you enter her room. And you don’t even get the idea what your child might be up to? That’s lame. Really lame.

Not to mention Azize’s reaction to the relationship between Hilal and Leon:

“You’ll forget.”

Ah-huh. Yes. Ten points for Azizerindor!

Honestly, even the fact that it took Azize this long to even GET the situation, was pretty much a shame. But her reaction to it? Was even worse. I’m not a magnificently huge fan of Veronica’s skills as a mother, but I have to say, her reaction to Leon’s undying love for Hilal was a lot more like what these kids deserve.

Moving on to the most troubled child in the family: Yıldız.

I saved Yıldız for last, because she is truly an awful person and she makes some horrible, horrible mistakes over the whole season. But all Azize ever does regarding Yıldız, is making things WORSE.

I’ll start with Yıldız first and foremost mistake: Her obsession with Leon (or, to be more specific, with the mansion). Azize’s first reaction, and the first precaution she takes, in order to get Yıldız into line again is: Threatening her. “I’ll tell you this once, Yıldız, and only once: I will never see you speak to that Lieutenant ever again.” Period. No talking, no reasoning, no explaining. Just a blunt order, with an underlying threat. Of course (like most teenagers would probably do) Yıldız doesn’t listen. People see her with the Lieutenant in public. And what does Azize do? “I’m going to marry you off!” Another ten points for Azizerindooor! Again: No talking, no reasoning, no explaining on why Yıldız should keep her distance from Leon. Why she shouldn’t be flirting with a man just because he is rich.

I don’t know if some of you might know this show, but I used to watch a series called Öyle bir geçer zaman ki a couple of years ago. Aylin Akarsu, the youngest daughter of the family, marries a man for his money in that show.

(In the beginning, I always used to say ‘Yıldız is the Aylin Akarsu of this show’, but later on I realized Yıldız is far worse than Aylin). I only ever realized Azize’s deficiency, when I compared her to Aylin’s mother Cemile. When Cemile found out that Aylin wanted to get married for the boy’s money she told her daughter: “When you’re living in your great mansion, with your servants and jewelry, you’ll be lying all alone in your cold, grand, luxurious bed! And then you can take your money into your arms and see if it warms you up. It won’t. And then you’ll give yourself away to temporary loves, you will waste yourself away, you will regret what you have done! … And I won’t allow my daughter to do something she will regret.”

Have we heard anything resembling to that from Azize’s mouth ever? Did Azize ever take Yıldız in front of her and tell her: “Child. You’re young. You yearn for a better life. But do you think money and a big house and glossy parties will bring you happiness? It won’t Yıldız. It won’t replace what you truly yearn for, like everybody else does: Love. It won’t replace it. Please, Yıldız. Stop ruining your own future. This isn’t the road to happiness. You don’t love Lieutenant Leon. Why waste your future for a man you don’t even love?”

I’m sure it would have been more effective, than forcing her to marry Mustafa Sami, a wanted man, who was going to take her to Anatolia, a place Yıldız could never survive at. 

And I truly have to emphasize at this point, how ridiculously stupid Azize’s insisting on Yıldız’ marriage with Mustafa Sami was. The guy was a wanted man. Greek soldiers had orders to shoot on sight. He was taking her daughter away, to Anatolia. Did Azize never think of all the dangers she was exposing her daughter to? Did she never even consider that her daughter might not be able to take all that? I’m not particularly a Yıldız-fan, but honestly, Azize provoked a lot of stuff Yıldız did.

Pressure usually results in backpressure and that’s exactly what happened with Yıldız. It’s what MOST teenagers do, when their parents give orders, use their authority, and try to force children into doing something: They do something horrible in return. In Yıldız’ case, it was reporting Mustafa Sami to the Greeks, because it was the only way to get rid of him. Even though I hate Yıldız for what she did, and even though I absolutely do not believe that Yıldız EVER assumed that the Greeks would merely “question” Mustafa Sami (Yıldız is smarter than that. She knew he was going to get killed), I still have to say that Azize reacted in the worst possible way. When Azize heard of Yıldız’ accomplishments she gave her daughter a thorough beating. And what did it do? Nothing. It only made Yıldız think of herself more as “a victim” and a “poor princess who deserves better than all this”. Azize lost her whole authority and all the trust on Yıldız’ side, when she beat her and then locked her up. She never even considered sitting down with Yıldız and actually talking to her, on what she actually did there, and why it was wrong.

I think Azize is hopelessly overwhelmed by a troubled child like Yıldız, and she is absolutely clueless on how to treat her.

You can see this in her disputes with Yıldız on the invasion, too: Yıldız mouths off in front of the whole family, about how she doesn’t believe into the Ottoman Empire anymore, how she doesn’t care if the Greeks are here, how everything that happened to Hilal and her friends is their fault, because they’re sending out invitations for cruelty. All Azize had to say in that scene was: “Go to your room!” (Another ten points for Azizerindooooor!) She doesn’t bother to tell her daughter: “Yıldız. Come here. Sit down. Those fancy Greek invadors you like so much. You know what they’re doing? They rape our women. They burn our villages down. Drive us out of our homes. And these are the people who are in the right, for you? You want to be a part of them?” Nope. No such thing from Azize. And Yıldız got worse and worse… After the spectacular surprise engagement party, Yıldız comes home, and Azize is again, clueless on how to act. Educating your child, also involves dampening its magnificent ego now and then. How come Azize didn’t tell Yıldız: “Where was your honour, when you went to a place you knew you weren’t wanted?” No. Azize only continued to not talk to her daughter in terms of “how to be a good human” and to overprotect her when she didn’t deserve it (by snapping at Leon).

To conclude, I think Azize has some serious struggles when it comes to being a mother. She doesn’t bother to notice her children, she is ignorant about their problems, she doesn’t put very much of an effort into showing them how to distinguish between right and wrong. She doesn’t even really know any of her children by heart (at least she doesn’t act like it). For Azize, all that ever counts is Cevdet. Cevdet is the most important thing in her life, and I believe he even stands above her children sometimes (or many times, or always). I’ve been comparing her to Vasili in the beginning and I gotta say, there are quite the parallels between Vasili and Azize: Both of them love their partners above anything and everything else. I’ve always said that the most important thing for Vasili was always Veronica. No one could compare to her, not Dimitri, not Leon, nothing. All he ever did and all he ever fought for was for Veronica. And after some thorough inspectation, I have to say: The same goes for Azize. When it comes to Cevdet, everything else is secondary. Even her children.

I think in Season 2, when Cevdet Jr. is finally born, Cevdet should retire (God knows, man must have had enough by now) and should stay at home with the kids, and Azize should work. Cause, hands down, Cevdet is clearly the better parent, out of the two.

Benim kaçtığım her sokak sana çıkıyor,