Halide Türkoğlu, Spokesperson of the People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Women's Assembly, held a press conference at the DEM Party Headquarters regarding the women's agenda. Türkoğlu, started her speech in Kurdish, celebrated the 21 February World Mother Language Day and said: “We promise that we will expand the language struggle. Our language is our honour, long live our mother language."

 

Stating that the people in Turkey entered the elections in a period when poverty, unemployment, labour exploitation, violence and massacres against women deepened and increased, Türkoğlu said that as women who act with the paradigm of women's liberation, decentralization and local management, one of their most important agendas is local elections.

 

Referring to the importance of local elections, Türkoğlu said: “Because the places where we will build a free and equal life will be our localities, our living spaces. Against male politics that adheres to the election calendar and ballot box politics at every moment; It is our locality that is the subject of the new life we have created under the leadership of women. Local means; Places where women live, breathe, create themselves, their lives and their future. It means protecting living spaces by saying 'I want to be safe where I was born'. It is the will of the locals, the will of women, that will determine the general policy."

 

'WOMEN'S AGENDA IS TO BREAK ISOLATION'

 

Türkoğlu continued her speech as follows: "Women's agenda is clear. Our agenda is to break the isolation imposed on Mr. Abdullah Ocalan for a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue. To embrace in the strongest way the demands rising from the Justice Watches launched under the leadership of women and mothers all over the country and from the hunger strikes launched in prisons. And to expand the struggle to fulfil these demands. In our 15-day freedom march, we witnessed once again that these demands are the demands of all peoples and women. We united our rebellion with the voices, words and chants of women on every route. We are trying to impose an isolationist regime on those who impose a deadlock on the Kurdish issue in this country. We said that our agenda and priority is to break the isolation against those who made it so and want to do so.

 

MR. OCALAN IS THE GUARANTEE OF PEACE

 

Mr. Ocalan is the guarantor of this honourable peace. It is a guide to equality, freedom and coexistence, with his paradigm that it puts forward against the dirty war politics carried out by capitalist male-dominated governments through power and sharing, not only in the country but also in the Middle East as a whole. It is the priority of us women to implement this paradigm. We, women, experience the poverty, violence and pain caused by war most severely. 

 

IN OUR CITY, WOMEN WILL ALSO SPEAK AND DECISION

 

Those who want to legitimize femicide in this country demand votes from women. We, women, will give the strongest response to this government. Of course, our struggle for women's freedom is not a struggle that can be reduced to an election. However, a part of our struggle, which we have built with a lot of effort and price, is women's libertarian local governments, our paradigm and bringing this paradigm to life. We have a paradigm that is too big to fit into municipal buildings. Our system, which we will implement in all areas of life, is the target of the governments today, as it was yesterday. Because our system is based on co-majority versus one-man rule. It is based on the will of women, the will of the people and the will of the local people against the trustee regime that usurped the will of women and the people. It is based on the women's freedom struggle against male state violence against women. No one must have any doubt that we will embrace our system in the strongest possible way, where women's voices are heard in all decision-making and authority mechanisms. We women will have the say and decisions in our own streets, in our own neighbourhoods, in our villages and in our cities.

  

WE WILL IMPLEMENT THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

 

But it is the clear attitude of us women to send government away, which takes a side with the trustees who usurp women's will, attack women's achievements and close down centres to combat violence against women. We will do this by re-establishing our women's institutions, centres for combating violence and cooperatives. We will do this by sending your trustees. Finally, let me say this; Those who terminated the Istanbul Convention must know very well that we will re-implement each article of the contract with our women's libertarian local governments policy. Dear friends, Together with our women candidates, we will change every field where male-dominated politics manifests. We will go house to house, door to door. We will weave this entire process together with women.

 

GULTAN'S COMPANIONS STARTED WORKING

 

However, we have another work that is both exciting for us and will be carried out under the responsibility of all women, the election campaign of our Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor candidate, dear Gültan Kışanak. Dear Gültan, who is unlawfully held in prison even though she has completed her detention period, is in a place that touches the lives of every woman with her stance, struggle and resistance. The owner of the will that did not kneel against the September 12 fascism is addressing the struggle of us women in Ankara today. Hearing this voice, Gültan's comrades who would build bridges from Amed to Ankara and from Ankara to all of Turkey for peace politics is ready and started working.

 

We will implement our women's libertarian local governments paradigm in Ankara as well. We are creating the strongest volunteer network to make Gültan's voice and word heard to all women. We are establishing a network that will include journalists, intellectuals, representatives of women's organizations and platforms who walk with Gültan and will expand day by day. We will be the promise of all women, the Third Way. We will carry out our comrade Gültan's campaign by going house to house and door to door in Ankara. We call on all women to expand our women's organization and unite around the will put forward by Gültan. We say Gültan time, DEM time, Women's Time in Ankara! 

 

TO MARCH 8 WITH THE POEM 'ALWAYS RESISTANCE, ALWAYS FREEDOM'

 

With this morale and motivation, we are going to March 8 with the motto "Always Resistance, Always Freedom". This year, as every year, we will have enthusiastic, resistance-filled actions and events in all our cities and neighbourhoods. These activities have also started in many places. We have prepared plans in many central places. In this context, On March 2, in Ankara, we will start the election campaign of our beloved Gültan Kışanak and March 8. 

 

We invite all women to our start at Kuğulu Park on March 2, at 12.30. Again, we will commemorate the women who were murdered as a result of male-state violence on March 1 in Batman, where Rojvelat lost her life. We will not allow special war policies. We will visit the Justice Watches initiated by mothers who want to give voice to the voices of political prisoners on hunger strike in prison and we will once again say that the mothers' demand is our demand. We will grow our solidarity by coming together with women living in containers in Adıyaman on March 5. We will hold our women's march and rally in Amed on March 8 with the participation of our Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları. On the same day, we will hold rallies and festivals in many cities such as Batman, Şırnak, Hakkari, Van, Istanbul, Mersin and Izmir, saying 'co-majority and equal representation are our purple line'.

 

By organizing our rebellion, we will flow to the 8 March areas, with the motivation we get from these areas, we will organize the strongest women's halay around the Newroz fire and on March 31, we will send the trustees and say, 'Local Democracy with Women's Will'. I salute all women with this belief and determination. Long live Women's Solidarity, Jin Jîyan Azadî (Woman, Life, Freedom)! Always Resistance, Always Freedom!”