'Our hearts is one, we'll tear down male-dominant walls'
IZMIR (DIHA) – Women flooded the streets of Izmir with multilingual slogans and traditional erbane music as the World March of Women arrived in Izmir, the seventh stop in the international action.
Women arrived at the bank Eski Sümerbank yesterday evening for a welcome with the famous Kurdish slogan of the women's movement "jin, jiyan, azadî" (woman, life, freedom) written in five different languages. After dancing and erbane music, the women marched to Gündoğdu Square. Slogans in Kurdish and Turkish riffed on recent developments, including the scandal over the official Turkish language institute's definition of the word "available" as "easy to flirt with (women)."
"We're not available, we're feminists, we're in rebellion!" chanted the women as they took the streets of the Aegean city. The women, who have come here from the border town of Nusaybin across the border from Rojava and will next head to Greece, greeted one another in the square. "Our voices, our hearts, our peace, our sisterhood, our love, our freedom is one," said Sevim Fontaine, speaking on behalf of the World March of Women to the women of Izmir. "Women's strength comes from unity and this strength will tear down the walls built over us by patriarchy and capital."
Women danced local zeybek, horon and roman folk dances and an all-woman musical group performed. The March will tour the Selçuk and Şirince regions of Izmir in solidarity with local women's struggles.
(cm/nt)
