Dogubayazit, Turkey, 1993

“My brother and I share the same passion for witnessing events that stir the world. In the name of that passion, we took on the road of exile, and have fallen into disgrace with many governments.

I had been in Turkey for several months. Like a rendezvous that I desired as much as I dreaded, every day I would postpone my visit, to gaze at her, my homeland, even from a distance to stroke her with my hand, if my courage did not fail me. She was confined to the mountains. I know she had seen thousands of Iranians flee the repression of the Mullah regime. As for me, it had been years since I had seen her. Then came the day. Bravely and thoughtlessly, I set about for the visit. As I reached the town of Dogubayazit, my heart was pounding from feeling her so close. I saw her from a small alley lane that opened onto a vast stretch of land. She towered over the landscape, proud and unchanging. Her mounts, her slopes looked like the ones I could see from Iran. Something was perhaps missing; a detail to put the finishing touches to this visual reunion. Suddenly, I saw them holding this hollow television screen."