March 8 event in Amed: We will organize women’s solidarity

Women’s organizations in Amed gathered outside the historical Great Mosque in the Sur district as part of the 8 March International Working Women’s Day activities. Numerous women activists attended the event as well as members of the Free Women’s Movement (TJA), Rosa Women’s Association, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Amed Provincial co-chair Gülistan Atasoy and artist Pınar Aydınlar. Despite the rainy weather, the women came to the event in their traditional clothes, and sang Kurdish songs. They often chanted the slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” enthusiastically while dancing the traditional dance govend.

HDP Amed Provincial co-chair Atasoy made a short speech and said, “The main thing is to promote peace. War is promoted by the male-dominated system that destroys. Women will bring both spring and peace.”

“We will fight against the male-dominated system and the dark forces that create wars,” Atasoy said, remarking that women will continue to stand in solidarity with the female politicians in prisons. “We state that we can overthrow the male-dominated order through the women’s alliance. We will organize women’s solidarity by visiting everybody,” she noted.

After the press statement, the women wanted to distribute leaflets but faced obstruction by the police. The group protested the police intervention with the slogan “Block the murderers, not women” and the song “Resist, Diyarbakır”. The women danced halay to Pınar Aydınlar’s songs in the rain for a while.

Afterwards, the women handed out leaflets in groups. They marched towards the Suriçi PTT Branch and chanted the slogan “We will take to the streets against racism, fascism and poverty on March 8”. The activists sent March 8 postcards to the female politicians behind bars.