MARDİN - In the last six weeks seven women have committed suicide in Mardin. Women's organisations classify these suicides as a political problem that can be solved by implementing the Istanbul Convention.

 

While in Turkey the discussion about the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention on Violence against Women continues, more cases of femicide are becoming known daily. The platform ‘We Will Stop Femicide’ (Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız, KCDP) presented its report for July this weekend. In it, the organization documents a total of 36 murders of women in Turkey within a month. Eleven other women were found dead in a suspicious manner. One of the regions where suspicious deaths have occurred is the Kurdish province of Mardin. Seven women have committed suicide in Mardin in the last month and a half

 

Women's organisations and politicians in Mardin classify these suicides as a political problem. They believe that these could have been prevented by implementing the Istanbul Convention.

 

Eylem Amak is a member of the Şahmeran women's platform. She points out that women are driven to "suicide", saying: "Women commit suicide because they are forced into marriage, sexually abused, threatened or blackmailed. Many married women are also exposed to psychological and physical violence and see suicide as the only possible salvation. This must finally be stopped. These suicides can be prevented if there is a different political approach. The Istanbul Convention must be implemented effectively. We will continue to fight for this. We don't want to lose another woman."

 

SUICIDES ARE POLITICAL

 

HDP local politician Münevver Ülker states that the last time a woman committed suicide in Mardin was on the eve of the Feast of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) Ülker says: "These suicides result from a way of thinking shaped by male domination. Murders of women do not take place independently of politics. Our women's councils provide psychological and legal support. We will continue to do so. We also fight against sexual assault and child abuse. As women, we must support and strengthen each other."

 

Ülker points out that the women's institutions in the municipalities taken over by trustees have been closed. The government fears the strength of women, says the HDP politician and adds: "Women's organisation is getting stronger every day. Women are not in mourning but in rebellion. We continue our struggle, and always and everywhere we say: Woman, life, freedom."