Reha Bilge
Yesterday, on the morning of 8 December 2015, I learned, with great sadness and at an early hour, of the passing of a very dear friend and a true Galatasaray supporter, Barlas Tolan.
Of course, this is a profound sorrow and loss for his family and loved ones. I extend my deepest condolences to them.
However, his passing also represents a great loss for the entire Galatasaray community.
Because Barlas Tolan was an exemplary figure who demonstrated that one could serve Galatasaray while remaining true to oneself; that one could be an inseparable part of this great community while preserving one’s own ideas and personality; and that one could advance Galatasaray while defending freedom and the right to criticism.
Galatasaray High School and Galatasaray University owe him a great deal.
In the 1980s, when Galatasaray High School was approaching a period of profound decline, Barlas Tolan took it upon himself, under the leadership of Professor Turgut Önen, to bring forward new ideas and initiate new efforts within the Galatasaray community.
Together with another Galatasaray member and his friend, Professor Yalçın Çakalır, he succeeded in inviting many Galatasaray alumni to take action and gathering them around this common cause.
While he was still a young associate professor, he took risks for Galatasaray High School and later for Galatasaray University; he moved his home, changed the city where he lived, and transformed his professional environment.
His contributions will never be forgotten.
As a colleague, you know very well that Barlas Tolan was among the leading sociologists of Turkey.
His level of knowledge was exceptional. Turkey was introduced to some of the concepts of modern sociology thanks to Barlas Tolan.
Yet he always remained a humble person. He never hesitated to devote himself to even the most ordinary and fundamental problems of Galatasaray. Even in his moments of greatest disappointment and sadness, he never abandoned his love for Galatasaray.
His passing means the loss of a friend, a beloved elder brother within the Galatasaray community.
Galatasaray, which increasingly needs people capable of speaking openly and with common sense, will always feel his absence… As will, of course, the worlds of sociology and academia.
With my warmest regards,
Reha Bilge