What Needs to be Done by Whom to Establish Peace?

Turkey meets September 1 Peace Day in an atmosphere of clashes, but, what needs to be done by whom for the peace to begin as of September 1?

We addressed this question to rights defenders and  figures from circles struggling for peace; Öztürk Türkdoğan, Ümit Efe, Mehmet Soğancı, Filiz Karakuş, Elif Avcı, Hanım Tosun, Melek Özman, Mahmut Keçeci, Oğuz Yüzgeç, Nimet Tanrıkulu and Bayazıt İlhan and cease-fire was emphasized.  

“Let’s volume up the peace”

Ümit Efe (Human Rights Foundation of Turkey/TİHV Representative from İstanbul): Everybody should do their best.Politicians, students, housewives, children, defenders of human rights, democratic masses’ organizations and mostly political powers and ruling parties should do their best  in order to provide nonstop cease-fire and to secure democratic rights.

Mehmet Soğancı (Turkey’s Union of Engineers and Architects/TMMOB Chairman): If it is possible, there will be peace in five seconds. September 1 is the most important day in Turkey since it requires for all people to volume up the peace and stand shoulder to shoulder.

Nimet Tanrıkulu (Women Initiative for Peace): clashes start again these days when we need peace most as women. We see that women paid the price. As women who are struggling for peace, a permanent peace can only be establishes by women. Women should be organized on International Day of Peace. We say, “Our lives are bombed! We don’t give up struggling for peace. Let’s say we ae insistent of peace, we don’t want peace!”

“Arms should be laid down”

Öztürk Türkdoğan (Committee of Wise Men, Human Rights Foundation Present): The parties should cease fire. We need a permanent cease-fire in Turkey. Defenders of peace should express it loudly and make arms laid down.

Filiz Karakuş (Socialist Feminist Collective / SFK): Firstly,there should be a ceasefire.The state should give up operations, detentions and bombings while Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) should give up counterattacks and sabotages. We should aim to eliminate the reason for a war. Presidential Palace and Interim Government should respond to the requests of Kurds and protect democratizations instead of denying and eliminating Kurdish question. 

 “We should be organized”

Elif Avcı (Lambdaistanbul/A LGBTI Organization): You should believe peace will come to this country first and then you should struggle for your belief. I think people who have commonsense should be organized. We must tell everybody why and how we want peace.

Hanım Tosun (Saturday Mothers): We call for peace but nobody listens to us.We will continue to call for it until they hear us. I suffer agony from both funeral ceremonies of policemen and guerrillas. They all have families. I issue a call for peace in spite of everything.

“Struggling together”

Melek Özman (International Filmmor Women Film Festival Coordinator): We should find a way to organize for peace. We arnet the minority. We can be organized with the participant of everybody. We only stop the war and this state if we come into action for the peace.

Oğuz Yüzgeç (SGDF Co-Chair): Suruç Massacre was a milestone.Unfortunately, there won’t be peace without good wishes. On September 1, should struggle together realizing this war belongs to the presidential palace.  There will be only peace if there is a permanent struggle.

"War means death, disability and illness”

Mahmut Keçeci (Forum for Disability Rights): There is no winner of the war in the eye of the peoples.Only way to defeat imperialist dictation and war is to act with solidarity of people. Disability Rights organizations should do studies to imply the war feeds an army of disabled ones and mobilize people against war. 

Bayazıt ilhan (President of the Council of Turkish Medical Association): Conflict meanshunger, death,illness, falling out peoples for us, medical doctors.  As medical doctors and health care providers, we don’t want death, disablement and illness no more. All kinds of war and conflicts should stop. All parties and political parties should take responsibilities in order to secure peace and solve problems in a democratic way. (BK/ÇT/BD)

Click here to read the article in Turkish