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Before the peace march organized by the Amed Labor and Democracy Platform, the first thing I see, as always, are the police. It is impossible not to see them. Hundreds of riot police and the so-called arrest squads can be seen at almost any event in the city. Not to mention water cannon vehicles and armored military vehicles. This situation must have become routine for journalists covering the news in this city as most of the time they don't even feel the need to mention it in their news reports.
As the time for the event approaches, the crowd slowly starts to gather. It would not be inaccurate to say that the wide road in front of AZC Plaza was filled with the growing crowd. Of course, loud police warnings at every event have become routine. Calling the organizers of the event to negotiate, the police want the crowd to go to Dağkapı Square (Şeyh Said Square), where a statement will be read out, “without banners and without order.” Everyone knows that prior to such calendar events, the necessary permits are negotiated with the authorities, and since the permits are granted, the police's job there is to ensure that the crowd moves to the place where the statement is to be made without any problems. But the situation here is a bit different, even if the necessary permits are obtained, if they see a banner or a sign that they think might be illegal, if they see a slogan they don't like or if the crowd steps off the sidewalk, they will do everything in their power to prevent the crowd from marching.
Fortunately, this time the event was in the evening, so I can at least smile and say “we won't be exposed to the hellish heat of Diyarbakır."
After negotiations, the crowd is allowed to march in an orderly manner with banners. The Peace Mothers take their place at the front of the crowd with their white scarves. DEM Party Diyarbakır MPs Adalet Kaya, Ceylan Akça-Cupolo, Sevilay Çelenk, DTK Co-Chair and Diyarbakır MP Bedran Öztürk, KESK Co-Chair Ayfer Koçak, ESP Deputy Co-Chair Beycan Taşkıran, Diyarbakır's co-mayors are some of the names taking part in the march. Thousands of people, including members of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB/UCTEA) and Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) members also took their place in the cortege.
Unlike usual, there was almost no intervention from the police on the march route; maybe there were no slogans that they didn't like this time. Otherwise we would have been in trouble. A march that would normally take half an hour could have taken 2-3 hours. And considering that we were on the busiest route of the city, it could have been quite difficult. The dialogue between the masses and the police in Diyarbakır was like Tolga Çevik's improvised sketches in his Komedi Dükkanı (Comedy Shop) program, where the director tells the actor what he wants him to do and when the actor doesn't do it, the director goes crazy. Fortunately, not much happened that they didn't like and the march didn't turn into torture due to the extreme heat.
'March in peace'
Messages of peace, equality and freedom were at the forefront of the banners, placards and slogans. The band playing drums zurna and erbane throughout the march was the energy of the masses. The banners included slogans such as “We insist on free and equal life, we are against wars”, “Freedom and peace cannot be isolated”, “Long live peace against war, freedom against oppression, our struggle for democracy against fascism”, “Women insist on peace”, “Kurdish being the official language is the beginning of peace”, “Culture and art are our assets, we will not let them go."
When we reached Dağkapı Square, the enthusiasm peaked. Subsequently, the statements took place. Stating that Kurds and all peoples want to live in peace, Confederation of Public Employees' Trade Unions (KESK) Co-Chair Ayfer Koçak said that the Kurdish issue must be solved on the basis of equal citizenship.
The Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) Deputy Co-Chair Beycan Taşkıran called on the peoples of Turkey: “From Dağkapı we call out to the Turkish mothers, our Turkish brothers and sisters, the working class of Turkey; those who oppress another people cannot be free and cannot live in a just world. In Soma, in Urfa, in İstanbul, we are confronted by the police of the capital class. Therefore, equality comes only through common struggle. Against this dirty war, we call on the Turkish people and Turkish mothers to fight together. We invite them to hear the voices of Kurdish mothers from here. Peace and equality will only come this way. This is the only way freedom will come.”
Police attempted to interrupt MPs speech
What we have seen frequently in recent times is that if there is a statement that the police do not like during a speech, they intervene from an announcement vehicle. This happened frequently during the speech of Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar, Co-Chair of the DBP and a member of parliament. On the deaths of Kurdish women journalists Gülistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn in Suleymaniye as a result of Turkey's airstrike, Uçar said, “Workers of the free press, women, men, young and old, wherever they are in the world, have struggled in pursuit of the truth. None of your lies, none of your operations, none of your attacks and none of your partnerships could or will change this truth.” The police intervened in the speech by saying, “We will not allow the country's fight against terrorism to be implicated as an attack here.”
Threat of 'action' against those who applauded
The intervention did not stop there. Uçar continued, “The killing of two Kurdish journalists is a war crime. The Republic of Turkey has committed and continues to commit war crimes in Sulaymaniyah.” As Uçar's speech continued, the police continued to warn and caution her. They claimed that the event had turned into an illegal action, and that everyone who applauded and supported it would be identified and prosecuted. Meanwhile, a mother came up to Uçar and supported her.
Uçar: We will fight for peace with dignity
Uçar, who was frequently interrupted, summarized his speech as follows: “We have neither time to lose nor values to lose. Those who cannot tolerate the language of the Kurdish people cannot speak to us here. They could not tolerate Kurdish writing, Kurdish language; they want to continue the cultural genocide. They are fighting our mother tongue, they are fighting our culture. They have no tolerance for any people living in the Middle East. We will fight until we build an honorable peace.”
328 organizations call for ‘peace without ifs and buts’
On the other hand, another important statement in the city was the call for a solution to the Kurdish issue by 328 civil society, business, labor and professional organizations operating in the region, including Chambers of Industry and Commerce, TMMOB, İHD, KESK, DİSK and Bar Associations. “Enough is enough for peace without ifs and buts,” the organizations said: “Decades of violence, weapons, operations and security policies have deepened the Kurdish Question rather than solving it, and the insistence on security policies has damaged social peace and the will to live together. In this context, we rightfully and strongly invite all actors, social and political dynamics to fulfill their responsibilities to ensure an environment of non-conflict for the peaceful and democratic resolution of the Kurdish Question.”
(İY/Mİ/VK)