'In dream therapy there is a technique that pairs the patient—the dreamer; in this case—with someone who is there to listen to the dream. As soon as possible after waking, the dreamer gets together with his listener to review the dreams of the previous night. (…) The relationship between director and editor is somewhat similar in that the director is generally the dreamer and the editor is the listener. But even for the most well-prepared of directors, there are limits to the imagination and memory, particularly at the level of fine detail, and so it is the editor’s job to propose alternate scenarios as bait to encourage the sleeping dream to rise to its defense and thus reveal itself more fully.' 

—Walter Murch*

‘An editor is not a magician; an editor can create a visual world with the already shot material, a good director and a good editor can challenge the world’. As the most devoted follower of this idea, you were the editor of films that won awards in numerous local and international festivals. Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Distant and Climates, Semih Kaplanoğlu's Egg and Honey, Pelin Esmer's 10 to 11 and Watchtower, Mehmet Can Mertoğlu's Album are some of the films that come to mind. Your ability to tell someone else's story in the most accurate way must be related to the magic of cinema. Even though you didn't see it that way, you were one of the most exceptional magicians in the business and you mesmerised us by presenting marvellous shows.

I always admired the way you adapted yourself to the rapidly changing world of cinema with an astonishing ability and followed the innovations with great attention. Undoubtedly, most impressively, you had a profound respect for your work and unequalled conscience. You chose the directors you collaborated with according to your own criteria, but most of all, according to their commitment to their work. And that was because you embraced those films as much as their directors. You were such a passionate magician.

You never gave up. I witnessed you as emerged stronger than ever from challenges and blows. You were patient, and never let go, knowing that things would always get better. You left behind many directors who owe you a lot.

As a magician of editing, we are grateful to you not only for generously sharing your skills, which you displayed admirably at the most prestigious festivals of the world, but also for having lived a life without compromises despite being exhausted and battered, and handing over this flag of magic to us. Our dream is to carry this flag in a manner worthy of you and to pass it on to the next generation as skillfully as you had, dear Ayhan Brother.

-Ali Aga

*Walter Murch, In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing, (Silman-James Press, 1995)