Women across Turkey and Northern Kurdistan (Bakur) have begun preparations for 8 March, International Working Women’s Day. Programs in which many organizations will jointly take to the streets throughout the week of 8 March are already being eagerly anticipated in cities, while the Free Women’s Movement (TJA) will launch its March 8 campaign with a declaration to be announced on 17 February. Coming together under the slogan “We organize through resistance, we weave a democratic society,” women will carry out 1,100 home visits in Diyarbakır (Amed) alone.
The women also pointed to the peace process and the ongoing wars in Iran, Rojava, and Afghanistan, saying they will take to the streets this year under the themes of peace and resistance.
We will be in the field with women’s meetings, workshops, and home visits
Bahar Peker, an activist with the TJA, spoke about the preparations they are carrying out as part of the activities for 8 March, International Women’s Day. Peker said they will launch their campaign with a declaration on 17 February and that, following events to be held in many centers, they will organize final rallies in Diyarbakır, Van (Wan), and Urfa (Riha).
Peker said, “We will be in the streets this year with the spirit of labor, resistance, and freedom that gives 8 March its meaning for women. For years, as women, we have taken to the streets against all forms of femicide, war, and systems of exploitation. This year as well, we will raise our voices across both Northern Kurdistan and Turkey against all attacks targeting women’s gains. As TJA, we are also beginning our March 8 activities. We will carry out 1,100 home visits in Diyarbakır. At the same time, we are organizing women’s meetings and gatherings. By holding these meetings in a workshop format, we are striving to collectively weave a democratic society.”
Women are the subjects of the process and the struggle
Peker said that various topics are being addressed in the women’s meetings and added: “In the meetings we have held over the past three days, we have been discussing awareness-raising workshops, violence against women, child abuse, and special war policies. Women have become stronger subjects in the social struggle. Today, we see that women are no longer passive. We can very clearly see that they truly desire a socialist way of life and thought, and that they put forward concrete proposals for making this a lived reality.”
Peker said they are preparing for 8 March with the slogan they have determined and that the launch will be carried out based on solidarity with the peoples of Rojava. She also said, “We will give this start by centering the peoples of Rojava. Afterwards, we will celebrate 8 March in Bismil, Diyarbakır, and at the Urfa Border Gate. As we move toward 8 March, we are carrying out our work with the rights of women and peoples in Rojava in mind.”
This March 8 means peace and struggle for women
Peker drew attention to the conflicts continuing around the world and said: “From Afghanistan to Iran, from Rojava to Kobanê, women and children are paying the heaviest price in the wars that continue. In wars, women are killed, taken captive, or forced into displacement. In ISIS attacks on Kobanê, thousands of women were killed, and Yazidi and Kurdish women were abducted. Despite the years that have passed, there are still women whose fate remains unknown. Today, we do not accept the attacks targeting Rojava and the policies that target women’s bodies. We will always continue our struggle in the streets against this mentality.”
We will be in the streets with our organizations
Peker emphasized women’s solidarity and said: “As women of TJA, as women from Turkey, and together with internationalist socialist women, we will be in the streets on 8 March. We will not remain silent in the face of the killing of women, the exposure of their bodies, their abduction, and violence against children. Every hand that reaches toward a woman’s body is also directed against freedom. We will continue our struggle against the system that nurtures this mentality. On that day as well, we will be in the streets with our braids and our voices.”
The right to hope must be recognized for lasting peace
Peker also drew attention to the 27 February call, saying that women play a subject role in the ongoing peace process and that they are carrying out work in every field as part of this process. She said, “We will walk toward 8 March by weaving peace. The right to hope for Abdullah Öcalan is currently on the agenda. However, he does not have physical freedom. For lasting peace to be achieved, the right to hope must be recognized and his physical freedom must be ensured.”
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