Şirine Çiçek’s village was raided many times. The woman, together with her fellow villagers, was subjected to torture by soldiers, while her husband had been in prison for 23 years. She said: “We want what is right; and that is peace.”
Because of the special war operations that began in the 1990s, the Çiçek family experienced repeated raids on their village and were subjected to torture. Today, they are struggling to hold on to life in Istanbul. Şirine Çiçek, whose husband remains imprisoned, stated that if peace is to come, it must be achieved in an honorable way, and that they will not accept anything else.
Our village was burned
Şirine Çiçek, speaking to ANF, recounted her experiences with the following words: “Our village was constantly raided by soldiers. During the raids, they treated us terribly. They would throw our food on the ground, tear apart our beds and quilts, and slaughter and eat our animals.
The last time they came, they said, ‘You have two days, either evacuate the village or we will burn everything along with your belongings.’ They also said, ‘If you do not want us to burn the village, then become village guards.’ As villagers, we refused to accept this. We were forced to evacuate the village and migrated to Adana. After staying there for a year or two, we later moved to Istanbul.
When the soldiers raided the village, they would ask about my husband, Hamdin Çiçek. They said, ‘We received a report that he has returned home.’ We would answer, ‘He is not here, he went to Arabia to work.’ But they replied, ‘No, he went to the mountains, we do not believe you.’ They even said, ‘He was here last night, you ate such and such food together.’
My husband had a coded suitcase he had brought from Arabia. They said, ‘Open it,’ but we told them we did not know the code. They took the suitcase outside, broke it open, and found only our photographs inside.
Once, a soldier lit his lighter, grabbed my daughter by the throat, and said, ‘Tell us where he is, or we will burn your daughter.’ A neighbor came and pulled my daughter from their hands, shouting at them, ‘Are you going to burn a child alive? Do you have no faith? Do you not have children of your own? Why are you committing this cruelty?’”
My husband has been in prison for 23 years
Şirine Çiçek explained that, due to the increasing pressure from soldiers, her husband was caught while trying to cross the Syrian border with a group:
“Another group had crossed the border before them. He and five of his friends were captured. He used to tell it like this: ‘After arresting us, they put us in a cave. The cave was full of rats.’ The rats chewed through their clothes and shoes. The Syrian soldiers handed them over to Turkey. He was taken to Mardin Prison, then exiled to Diyarbakır. Afterward, he was transferred to Siirt, Midyat, Ordu, and Giresun. He was sentenced to 36 years in prison and has been incarcerated for 23 years.”
Problems with prison visits
Şirine Çiçek said that not knowing Turkish turned prison visits into a form of torture and made things very difficult for her. She explained that she always brought acquaintances with her and was able to see her husband with their help.
She expressed her expectations of the newly emerging process with the following words: “We want the war to end. Those in prison should be released. The guerrillas must return to their homes. We want what is right; and that is peace. We do not want war. There must be equality and fraternity. Of course, there are conditions for peace: firstly, the guns must fall silent, and the war must come to an end.
Freedom must be secured. Beginning with Abdullah Öcalan, the guerrillas, those imprisoned, and those in exile must be freed. Steps must be taken for this. We want to be able to embrace our children.”
We are not regretful of the struggle we have waged
Şirine Çiçek said: “For years my husband has been in prison, and he has been asked this question many times. Each time, he has said that he does not regret his struggle. As a woman, I have been struggling for years. I have lived through very difficult days. I still do, but I do not regret the struggle we have waged. Even if they kill us, we are not regretful. We carried out a just struggle, and we continue to do so; it is out of the question for us to feel regret. First and foremost, we pray for our leader, and then for his friends and comrades. This blood must stop, this war must end. We want the suffering endured by mothers to finally come to an end.”