The Delal Women’s Life Center and Women’s Labor Market, built by the Erciş (Erdîş) Municipality, were inaugurated in Van (Wan). Before the opening, women marched from the district office of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) in Erciş to the new center, chanting slogans throughout the route. Representatives of political parties, civil society organizations, and many women participated in the ceremony.
After greetings from the Peace Mothers and Erciş Co-Mayor Güler Temel, Van Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Neslihan Şedal took the floor. Şedal said, “As we approach 25 November, we are expanding women’s spaces of freedom. When trustees were appointed, the first target was women’s institutions. But despite everything, our municipalities revived these spaces. Important services will be carried out here, and women will strengthen their self-defense.”
We must be free for society to be free
Free Women’s Movement (Tevgera Jinen Azad – TJA) activist Ayla Akat Ata stressed that the process is unfolding at a critical moment and said: “We demand equal representation in all areas. Wherever we establish this equal representation, they appoint trustees. We want to live and help others live. That is why for years we have been saying, ‘jin, jiyan, azadî’ (‘woman, life, freedom’). We must be free so that society can be free; women and men must be equal so that we can speak of equality. These institutions must play an important role in employment and production. We know that trustees attack women’s institutions to silence women. We women have paid a heavy price. We existed yesterday and we will exist tomorrow. Those who see these spaces are afraid of them. These are educational spaces, places where women socialize, share their grief and joy, and become centers of social change and transformation. As long as we speak our truth, we will exist. If we are still here despite everything we face, it is thanks to the prices we have paid.”
We cannot be free unless Öcalan is free
Ayla Akat Ata stated that the success of the process depends on the will women will put forward and said: “This is a process to be built by all ethnic identities in this country, without making distinctions between beliefs. As women, in every space where we breathe, we will strive to ensure the success of this process. After the statements of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan, many things changed in Turkey. We know that the success of this process will be possible through women’s labor. We will help others live so that we may live; we will create so that we may exist. And we will only be free when Kurdish People’s Leader Mr. Öcalan is physically free. In these spaces, we will work to organize peace and a democratic life.”
Following the speeches, a cake was cut and the women’s life center was officially opened.