SES Women of the Year awards announced, bianet among recipients

The SES Equality and Solidarity Association's 2024 Women of the Year awards ceremony was held on Jan 21 at the Pera Museum in Beyoğlu, İstanbul.  

The event highlighted moments that celebrated women's resistance and solidarity throughout the last year.  

Hosted by journalist Ayşen Şahin, the event drew significant attendance from members of parliament, journalists, and human rights advocates. Awards were presented to women selected through approximately 3,500 votes.  

Journalist Nadire Mater, chair of the IPS Communication Foundation and a co-founder of bianet, and journalist Evrim Kepenek, bianet’s women and LGBTI+ news editor, were among the award recipients for their leading role in promoting and advancing gender-focused journalism.  

Onanç: 2024 was the year of women’s courage and wisdom

SES Equality and Solidarity Association Founding President Gülseren Onanç made the opening speech of the ceremony. 

We are saddened, angry, and defiant. Today is a special day to make women’s resistance struggles even more visible. On such somber evenings, standing together always brings comfort. As you leave here tonight, you might find that your hope for the future and for Türkiye has been rekindled.  

The year 2024 was a year when democracy regressed globally. If there are two words to describe 2024, they would be ‘fear’ and ‘isolation.’ Half the world went to the ballot box, but the ballot box did not bring democracy. Conservative authoritarian governments were elected, and sadly, women’s rights were systematically rolled back. Wars and conflicts unfolded, and neoliberal capital sought to destroy nature for profit. Even in Europe, freedom of expression and assembly faced restrictions.  

Yet, despite all of this, 2024 was also the year of women who resisted these assaults on democracy with their courage and wisdom. These women not only defended their own rights but also stood up for the rights of trees and nature, teaching us invaluable lessons with their wisdom. They became voices from Türkiye and the world. We can truly describe 2024 as ‘the year of women’s courage and wisdom.’”  

Kaz Dağları Kadınları direnişi onurlandırıldı

The resistance of the Women of Kaz Mountains honored  

Women from Hacıbekirler and Yanıklar villages, who have been fighting against mining activities in the Kaz (Ida) Mountains, received their awards from Süheyla Doğan. The women took the stage with banners and placards reading “We will defend every tree one by one,” “Cengiz, get out,” and “There can be walnuts in the Kaz Mountains, but not Cengiz.”  

Before presenting the award, Süheyla Doğan saluted the women's struggle with the following words:  

Women are fiercely defending their nature and living spaces. A 520-hectare forest system was destroyed for a gold mine. The village women continue this fight shoulder to shoulder and are asking for no more destruction. Our struggle will continue.

As the women from Hacıbekirler and Yanıklar villages received their award from Süheyla Doğan, they shared their feelings:  

We want to live in our village; we do not want to give our forests to Cengiz. Our water is being poisoned, our animals are dying. We want to leave a beautiful homeland for our grandchildren, but Cengiz doesn’t let us. Thank you for amplifying our voices.

We are both very saddened by the fires and very happy to be here. We are fighting against Cengiz. We don’t know how to come up on stage and speak. We know how to live in our homes and villages; we’re not used to this. We farm. We say agriculture is our livelihood, and you support us. We don’t want to give our forests and our village to Cengiz. Please continue to support us. We want to leave this homeland to our children and grandchildren, but Cengiz doesn’t let us. Cengiz is still continuing his operations.

Women of Açık Radyo and bianet honored  

On behalf of the women of Açık Radyo, an independent radio collective, the award was accepted by Meral Mutlu Madra and Didem Gençtürk. Presenting the award, Sevgi Uçan Çubukçu said, “The solidarity displayed by Açık Radyo today, despite the broadcast ban related to the fires, makes this award even more meaningful.”  

Meral Mutlu Madra emphasized the importance of women’s labor:

Women’s labor is life-giving and often invisible. Since 1995, we have been working to keep Açık Radyo alive with the support of our listeners. This award honors all our efforts. The resonance of your voice, your presence, has given us strength.  

We have fought an incredible battle to keep Açık Radyo on air. Apaçık Radyo is broadcasting. We are also continuing our fight to secure terrestrial broadcasting. Although I have always been part of Açık Radyo, I was often behind the scenes. I was the one who first said things no one wanted to hear. For the first time, I am openly in the foreground. We are thrilled and proud on behalf of all the Açık Radyo team members who amplify women’s voices and honor their labor.

Didem Gençtürk also acknowledged the contributions of women at Açık Radyo, stating, “We are here representing 750 women programmers. Their labor is immense, and this award belongs to all of us.”  

Gültan Kışanak accepted the award on behalf of the Kurdish Feminist Movement, presented by Mücella Yapıcı. Praising Kışanak’s resistance, Yapıcı said, “Gültan has bravely shouldered all the responsibilities of being a woman and a Kurdish woman. Her struggle is a source of inspiration for all of us.”  

Gültan Kışanak said the following:

Ours is a bond of heartfelt friendship, and being side by side always gives us strength. Today, the SES Equality and Solidarity Association has brought us together once again. So that we can draw strength from one another, grow together, and nurture hope together. Thank you so much.

Mater: We will resist  

bianet’s Nadire Mater and Evrim Kepenek received the award from İlknur Üstün of the Women’s Coalition.  

Mater said the following:

I want to send my greetings to all women fighting for their rights in Türkiye and around the world. With bianet receiving the 2024 SES Women of the Year award, bianet’s gender identity has also become a bit more evident. This year, bianet turns 25. For 25 years, we have been walking this path with women.  

“When we first started in 1996 and 1997, what we were trying to do was create a model outside of the mainstream. We said, ‘Another form of communication is possible.’ Now, when we look at today, there isn’t even a mainstream media left. The mainstream media has split in two: one side is the government media, and the other side is media opposing the government. The media opposing the government is diverse.  

At the beginning, we aimed to build a new media world focused on women, rights, and children, as opposed to various forms of power. Over the years, we transformed our women-focused journalism into gender-focused journalism. At this point, everything has become our issue, and I’m so glad we chose this path.  

Media is becoming increasingly important. For organizations like ours, for our gatherings and solidarity, it’s becoming harder and harder to sustain progress. But of course, we will resist. This is the foundation upon which we built bianet from the very start.  

Today, bianet is largely made up of women. At this stage, Evrim is also our women and LGBTI+ editor. We accept this award on behalf of all the women who have created and worked at bianet over the past 25 years. Thank you so much.

'This award belongs to all working women'

Kepenek said the following:

Everyone gave such heartfelt speeches that I became quite emotional myself. It’s incredibly exciting to see here the people I’ve been reporting on for nearly 25 years. Standing in front of people I’ve asked, “Could you give us an interview?” “What do you think about this issue?” “What’s your reaction?” and now speaking to them is truly exhilarating.  

I grew up in a village. I’m the child of a mother who spent summers picking tea and hazelnuts and winters teaching school. If I’m here today, I know it’s a reflection of the women from that village, and I am deeply grateful to them.  

When I came to bianet as an intern 20–25 years ago, Ms. Nadire gave me a pin. It read, “Life is very hard, but I’m not an easy one either.” Truly, we are accepting this award on behalf of all the women and men at bianet, because we create everything together.  

We’re working in an incredibly challenging period, much like Açık Radyo, continuing our work under heavy pressure. Together, we will resist, we will read, we will write, we will share, and we will stand side by side. Knowing there are people we can call when we’re worried something might happen, knowing that women’s solidarity exists—it’s such a source of joy and strength.  

I’m so glad you’re here, and I’m so glad we’re here.”  

'We know there would be no fires in provinces governed by women'

The award for Türkiye’s Women Mayors was presented by SES Equality and Solidarity Association Founding President Gülseren Onanç.

Onanç said the following:

It’s wonderful to have representatives from the AKP, CHP, and DEM Party among us. We know that in the provinces they govern, such fires wouldn’t occur. One of the reasons for what we’ve been experiencing is male-dominated municipal governance.

Eskişehir Mayor Ayşe Ünlüce said, "I greet you all with the spirit of solidarity of the women of Eskişehir."

I am the child of a mother who gave birth at the age of 16. Perhaps this has deeply influenced my involvement in this struggle. From childhood, my voice of dissent grew louder. The pursuit of equality, justice, and freedom inspired me to study law and eventually become a mayor. Eskişehir has a 146-year history of municipal governance. Thirty-two male mayors have served Eskişehir, and today, I stand before you as the first woman mayor.  

On behalf of Antep Mayor Fatma Şahin, Gaziantep Deputy Mayor Feray Yılmaz said, “Gaziantep is a very fortunate city. It has a mayor who views the city with a woman’s perspective and approaches it with a mother’s compassion.”  

DEM Party Batman Mayor Gülistan Sönük delivered her speech in both Kurdish and Turkish:  

I greet everyone with love and respect on behalf of the Kurdish women’s movement. I wanted to begin my speech in my native language because, in this country, women are still being murdered simply because their language is banned. The most evident example of this is Fatma Altınmakas. She wanted to express herself in her native language, but because it was banned in official institutions and there was no translation, she endured years of systematic rape and was murdered. For this reason, native language is a constitutional right, a human right, and it must not be prohibited.  

I, like all other co-mayors, was elected for five years. But on the morning of November 4, I was removed from office by a coup, and a man was appointed in my place. With my removal, the voting rights of tens of thousands of women living in Batman were effectively taken away. Yet, we did not lose hope. While we were the ones elected, this award is truly the result of the labor of tens of thousands of women who came before us. Our struggle is a fight to honor the legacy of all the women who have devoted their lives to this cause.

CHP Bilecik Mayor Melek Mızrak Subaşı said the following:

All of us have faced different struggles in different regions. Each of us has unique life stories and success stories. We will continue to help amplify women’s voices. If we are not here, we will have surrendered to a male-dominated society. We always say this: we don’t want to be 51%; we want to be 50%. In municipal governance, this concept is very valuable. Half of our society is women, and we are the voices of those women.

(EC/EMK/VK)