I, Soldier is the first part of a video series in which Ergun is dealing with the state-controlled ceremonies for the national days of the Turkish Republic. The nationalistic attributes attached to these large-scale events are framed in a non-descriptive way and shown from an almost voyeuristic point of view. I, Soldier was shot at the ‘National Day for Youth and Sports’, the day that marks the start of the independence war of the Turkish people, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, against the Allied Forces in 1919. The annual ceremony, held at the biggest stadium of each city, consists of figurative dances of high school students, choreographed in a ‘timeless’ socialist-realist manner. In the last decade, popular songs replaced the usual military marches that used to accompany the choreography. In this video, a nationalist hip-hop song is played during the gymnastic demonstrations of the military school students, backed by a stern poem of a high-ranking soldier about the virtues of The Soldier.

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