Buldan: Peace will be knitted with pioneering power of women

2015-05-09 15:22:00

ISTANBUL (DİHA) - Women academics, politicians and activists are discuss how to push for women's roles in the peace process in Istanbul today.

Women activists have gathered in Istanbul for a workshop organized by Kurdish women's group Congress of Free Women (KJA) on women's role in the democratic solution of the Kurdish question.

Among the speakers at the workshop was Pervin Buldan, who is participating in the İmralı Delegation of politicians and civil society activists meeting with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and taking a role in the peace and resolution process ongoing in Turkey. 

Buldan: Women paid a heavy price

She is also Group Deputy Chairman for the HDP. Pervin spoke at a workshop organized by Kurdish women's group Congress of Free Women (KJA) on women's role in the democratic solution of the Kurdish question. MP Buldan said the peace process would be knitted and built with pioneering power of the women.

"As women, we paid a heavy price during the clashes; we spilled a lot of tears," said Buldan at the workshop. "As the Kurdish women's movement, we have struggled for the process to turn to peace. And Dear Abdullah Öcalan said that a process in which women were not included was not a legitimate one to him," Buldan noted that the delegation, which has participated in 32 meetings until now, has discussed women's issues in every meeting and that on the 10-point proposal for the peace process presented at Dolmabahçe Palace several months ago, four of the points involved women.

Üstündağ: AKP made women dependent on state

Nazan Üstündağ, Associate Professor at Boğaziçi University, also spoke at the workshop. Üstündağ's work has ranged from research on Kurdish women's experiences of war to working as part of the group Women's Initiative for Peace (BİKG).

"Whenever peace processes begin, attacks and massacres of women increase," said Üstündağ. "There's an empirical reality." She noted that the withdrawal of the guerrilla puts women and children in Kurdistan at risk of attacks by state forces. At the same time, the AKP has pushed the role of "motherhood" on women and restricted their role in public life, making them dependent on the state.

Berktay: Women take a role at negotiating table

KJA activist Ayşe Berktay also spoke, noting that women were at a critical moment, as they come to take a role at the negotiating table in Turkey. Women are continuing the workshop with four ateliers, where they will debate issues like women's recognition in the constitution and organizing for equality for women. The workshop will continue tomorrow.

(nt)