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"Women Discuss Lausanne on Its 100th Anniversary" workshop was held by TJA, Tevgera Jinen Azad (Free Women's Movement) in Diyarbakır on July 16. A final declaration was announced at the end.
TJA stated in the final declaration that "the Treaty of Lausanne signed on July 24, 1923, brought genocide, assimilation, forced migration, and associated massacres to the peoples living in this geography." The declaration further said that this was not a Peace Treaty, but rather "a document of the Turkish state," that "went down in history as a product of the male mind, trying to generate its existence by destroying different cultures and identities."
"They tried to wipe Kurds out of history"
"In the contract signed by the Turkish delegation with the West, a commitment was taken that only the Turkish administration would have a say in this geography. While only Armenians, Greeks, and Jews were recognized as minorities, even the contractual rights of these peoples were not implemented." the final declaration by TJA stated.
"They tried to wipe Kurds out of history, on the other hand, saying "Turk and Kurd are one" deceitfully, not even their names were mentioned," the declaration further said.
"While this treaty was regarded as the deed of foundation of the Republic of Turkey, it turned into a populicide for those who do not have Turkish and Sunni identities. The Kurds, the Armenians, the Greeks, the Assyrians, the Jews, the Ezidis, and many other identities who are the ancient peoples of this geography faced the violent methods of the nation-state policies, pushing them into disappearance," it stated.
The main target of the assimilation policies that followed the Treaty of Lausanne was the girls and the women, the declaration argues. The culture, that the women bear, had to be brought to an end, this was the basic method used, in line with the policies aiming at creating a homogeneous society.
"The aim was to create a homogeneous nation-state''
"Lausanne is not a "Peace" Treaty, but a historical prelude to the policies of the systematic extermination of the minorities. As soon as the Turkish State returned from Lausanne, the first thing they did was to change the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, and by declaring everyone living in this geography as "Turks", systematic assimilation policies were started," the declaration of the TJA workshop asserts.
"In this process, minorities were subjected to mass atrocities, even the rights granted to minorities in Lausanne and signed by the Turkish delegation were not implemented, and the only goal was to create a homogeneous nation-state," it reads and adds that "all these steps were taken, not in spite of the West, but with the approval of the West."
"A Democratic nation"
''The Kurdish people to bring together its social reality broken up in Lausanne and secure its national unity will be the most significant step to invalidate the international conspiracy," the TJA workshop concluded.
"Having said that the only way for the peoples to live in an equal and free way will be inside a democratic nation. Rojava is the only administration that is able to achieve this and its status should be recognized," said the final declaration. It argued that the Kurdish problem should be solved in democratic ways, and steps should be taken for the beliefs and cultures of the minorities to continue to exist in this geography.
"Democratic confederal system needed''
Lausanne has no legitimacy for the peoples and it has to be repealed, the workshop concluded. The document also reiterated the need for the construction of a democratic nation and a democratic confederal system. (AB/EMK/PE)
