The march started by the Free Women’s Movement (Tevgera Jinên Azad-TJA) from Amed (tr: Diyarbakır) under the slogan “We walk to freedom with hope” has reached Ankara on its sixth day. Welcomed with great enthusiasm in every city they passed through, the women marched to Sincan Closed Prison in the Turkish capital on Monday.
Speaking after the march, TJA activist Zeynep Sipcik greeted everyone on behalf of the women marching for lasting peace, saying, “We set out from Amed on October 1 with our bags filled with peace. As you know, Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan has been under severe isolation for 26 years. He has not stood still between four walls, between concrete, but has worked for the people. He has developed his philosophy. He has presented the philosophy he created for us, the people, and wanted us to put it into practice. We brought with us the peace we loaded into our bags. We gave gifts from these bags to every piece of land we stepped on and every woman we greeted.”
‘We came here for peace’
Zeynep Sipcik stated that they had walked to Ankara demanding that important steps be taken, saying, “As you know, peace processes have taken place in many countries. In such processes, the most important condition is the release of political prisoners and the opening of the path. We are also waiting for a message to be sent from here for Mr. Öcalan and his friends to be released and for his comrades to believe that a sincere step has been taken.”
Zeynep Sipcik sent warm greetings to political prisoners, adding, “This time we came here for peace. Next time we will come here to welcome you and march for peace together.”
‘Turkey is obliged to implement the judgements and conventions’
Ekin Yeter, Co-Chair of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), stated, “This march has historical significance. Women from all walks of life are among us. We are marching with a historical mission. We are marching with the demands of Turkey’s peoples for equality and democracy. We are marching on behalf of all the peoples who have been killed, divided, and marginalized in Kurdistan and Turkey. We are marching for the Right to Hope. The Right to Hope emerged as an individual right in the person of Mr. Öcalan and now stands before us as a collective right. It emerged with the ECtHR decision but has not been recognized for 11 years. Turkey is obliged to implement the ECtHR judgements and the European Convention on Human Rights. We are talking about an ECtHR decision that has not been implemented for 11 years.”
‘The regime is not conducive to the process of peace and democratic society’
Ekin Yeter stated that everyone was waiting for the Right to Hope to be implemented after the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers had imposed obligations on Turkey. She pointed out that due to the failure to implement regulations related to the Right to Hope, 24 female prisoners in Sincan alone had not been released despite having completed their sentences.
Yeter said it was unacceptable for this practice to continue despite legitimate demands, “Everyone knows that the regime we are living under is not conducive to the process of peace and democratic society. It is not conducive to a moral political society. That is why we are marching.”
”We are right, our demands are legitimate and legal. The struggle has ensured the initiation of this process, and it will enable its improvement. Mr. Öcalan and his friends will also struggle freely,” she added.
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