Women Chase the Truth in Varto District, in Eastern Turkey

More than 100 women from İstanbul, Ankara, Diyarbakır and Muş provinces came together in Varto district of Muş province in eastern Turkey upon the calling of Women’s Freedom Assembly (Kadın Özgürlük Meclisi).

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ, HDP Group Deputy Chairperson Pervin Buldan and HDP deputies Hüda Kaya, Tuğba Hezer, Burcu Çelik, Yurdusev Özsökmenler, Mizgin Irgat and Asiye Kolçak, Ceylan Bağrıyanık from Kongra Jınên Azad/Fee Woman Congress (KJA) and HDP Muş Co-Chair Elif Çetinbaş also participated in.

HDP district Co-Chair Sabite Temelli welcomed the delegation and then the group started to march.

“Reveal the truth”

On behalf of the delegation, Hülya Osmanağaoğlu spoke:

“We know that this state doesn’t like opponents, especially opponent females. A woman who resists is always a threat against the patriarchal state.”

“A war against people and women”

Osmanağaoğlu:

“A female guerrilla named Ekin Wan (Kevser Eltürk) was tortured when she was dead and was taken her photograph and then her photo was published by security units. This is ugly. You killed her but why did you take off her clothes and torture her dead body? Because you fight against people and women.”

Yüksekdağ: Peace wins, women win

Figen Yüksekdağ:

"The naked dead body of Guerrilla Ekin is our honor. The torturers of her belong to broken-down traditions.”

March in Varto

Women shouted slogans while marching “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” (Woman, Life, Freedom in Kurdish).

The delegation visited the family of two construction workers who were killed by law-enforcement officers. Figen Yüksekdağ said: “We will work hard for peace and resolution process.”

There were no apartments or workplaces which weren’t affected by the bullets in Varto district. We asked people what was going on. They just said “Everything is evident.”

We heard same remarks from the tradesmen and people while walking on the broken glasses and near the damaged walls.

“Varto people were triggered by the death of Ekin Wan. The State looks like Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Special Operations team is far worse than ISIS. They persecute Kurdish people in this region. However, we won’t surrender the state officials.

“The State executes Kurds like in the 1990s. The Kurds didn’t vote for Justice and Development Party (AKP) and so it is. We won’t let Erdoğan become president again.

“We just want peace. We don’t discriminate people as Kurd, Turk, Laz (an ethnic group, native to the Black Sea coastal regions of Turkey) or Cherkess but people should see what the state does to Kurds. Western Turkey people should protest against these events. We don’t want neither policemen nor soldiers to be killed besides civilians.

(BK/AS/BD)

Click here to read the article in Turkish