The Kirk Oruk Womens' Cooperative, Feminists of Ankara and Womens' Solidarity Foundation held their silent protest of the Southeast incidents on 8 April Saturday, meeting at Ankara's Yuksel Boulevard dressed in black and will continue to do so weekly.
70 million have gone silent
The sitting protest in front of the Human Rights Monument was a reaction to the silence that accompanied the incidents that followed funeral ceremonies held in Southeast Turkey.
While masking their lips with tape, the women opened banners bearing the slogans "70 million have gone silent, we have all become murderers" , "We are staying silent to cry out the right to life" and "we went silent, weapons did the talking".
We defend the right to life
In leaflets they distributed during the protest, the women said they had gathered in support of the "right to life" and that they would hold similar meetings on Yuksel Boulevard in front of the Monument every Saturday.
A statement said "30 people died. A 12 year old child died. A 9 year old child died. A 3 year old child died. We all went silent, we all became murderers. Non of us are innocent any longer."
The statement also noted that "the mentality shooting the Kurdish people has made everyone expressionless" and added, "the concept of violence is distancing the people from each other. We are not foreign to or enemies of each other." (AD/EO/II/YE)
