Women Called for Peace in Diyarbakır

Independent feminist Nilgün Yurdalan and member of the Socialist Feminist Collective (SFK) Tuğba Baykal attended a rally of women in Diyarbakır on Sunday (31 May), organised by the Democratic Free Women's Movement (DÖKH).

A sense of hope

They said, "The rally was the start of a long road towards the hope for peace. The number and variety of supporters gave hope to women for a solution to the Kurdish question."

"We saw and expressed once again how much we needed peace."

The women had come from Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Mersin, Adana, Van, Ağrı, Hakkarı and other provinces and gathered in Diyarbakır at 10 am. Their slogan was, "We have things to say, we have the power to develop a solution."

Yurdalan said that the rally had been organised both to protest against the operation against the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) and to prepare the ground for a peace process.

The women also demanded the release of DÖKH women members currently in detention.

Women are the victims of war

Yurdalan spoke of the results of the war which women had to face: "migration, violence, poverty, sexual harrassment and rape." Thus, she said, peace was vital for women.

She emphasised that half of those detained in the operation against the DTP and then against the KESK trade union confederation were women. "These people are women working for peace in the Kurdish movement. We want them to be freed immediately."

Baykal added that another demand was the silencing of arms and a mobilisation of officials to prepare for peace.

Yurdalan reported that war planes had flown over the city during the rally, and that she believed they had taken off in order to go on operations, while women below had called for peace. (BÇ/AG)