Members of the Peace Mothers Council protested in Ankara on Tuesday against the attacks on the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo, northern Syria. The initiative traveled from various cities to the Turkish capital to make a statement in front of the Foreign Ministry but was prevented from doing so by police barricades.
The group protested in particular against the role of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, whose public support for the operation in Aleppo is seen by the Peace Mothers as contributing to the violence. Behind a banner reading “Em dayik rê nadin şer” (We mothers will not give way to war), they chanted slogans such as “Rojava is our honor,” “We don’t want war, we want peace,” and “Hakan Fidan must resign.”
Despite the police blockade, the mothers made their statement. Havva Kıran, a spokeswoman for the group, said: “We have come here as Peace Mothers so that no mother will lose her child again. In Aleppo, a woman was murdered and thrown from a building—that is not Islam, that is barbarism. We call on the Turkish authorities and the international community: Stop this war. If the war starts in Ankara, peace must also be created here.”
Emine Eren, another Peace Mother, said in her speech: “A war that disregards human life is taking place in Rojava. Turkey has trained armed groups and sent them to war. This war is a crime against humanity. We demand the resignation of the foreign minister. The blood of Kurdish children must not be part of political deals.” Eren also addressed the international public with the words: “Al-Jolani is nothing more than ISIS, and Turkey supports him. Once again: We want peace, not deals at the expense of the Kurds.”
Meryem Soylu, board member of the aid organization MEBYA-DER, which supports relatives of war victims, warned of an escalation of violence by Islamist militias: “If ISIS groups are given room for massacres again, it will spread throughout the world. Every person who considers themselves human must condemn these atrocities.”
