Having endured some of the harshest forms of state and gender-based violence, from burned villages and forced displacement to the loss of loved ones and the unlawful imprisonment of their children, The Peace Mothers will take to the streets on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, to demand peace.

The Peace Mothers told ANF: “We must first build peace, and that cannot be achieved through one-sided steps.”

The state must not stand behind the killers of women

Peace Mothers member Kumru Akgül noted that this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women comes at a time when violence against women and children has reached extreme levels, femicides have taken on the character of mass killings, and the achievements of women are being eroded by those in power.

Akgül emphasised that, once again, they took to the streets against violence and killings targeting women and said: “We would have hoped for 25 November to be declared an official holiday, and not to face bans from the governor or police obstruction, as we do every year. We, as women, gather to protest the violence inflicted on us, yet we end up encountering state violence instead. This should not be the case. The state must not stand behind the killers of women. For us, 25 November is a very significant day, and I hope that this year we will not face any obstruction and can express our words freely.”

Peace can become a social reality through the persistence of women and mothers

Kumru Akgül said their foremost demand on this year’s 25 November is peace, noting that peace can only take root in society through the persistence of women and mothers.

Akgül, who said she learned the meaning of war through lived experience, recalled: “We suffered immensely. Our village, Çêlik in Dargeçit (Kerboran), Mardin (Mêrdîn), was burned down by the state in 1993, and we were forced to migrate to Istanbul. We faced hardships there as well. Our children had to work from a very young age. As Mothers for Peace, we demanded peace and justice, and for that I was repeatedly detained and beaten; I was imprisoned. I am still undergoing treatment for the injuries from those beatings. Because of the reverse handcuffs, my arms tore; they struck me so much that they damaged my knees. But despite everything, we do not give up, and we do not stop saying ‘peace.’ Because we know this country must first achieve peace. We must reconcile so that life can return to normal and this climate of violence can finally end. This 25 November, as women and as Mothers for Peace, we will raise our voices for peace and freedom. We say that mothers must no longer cry, êdî bes e (enough is enough), and we say jin, jiyan, azadî (woman, life, freedom).”

We suffered a lot from war

Peace Mothers member Resime Karabaş said their primary demand this 25 November has once again been peace.

Karabaş emphasised that they endured severe violence at the hands of the state, recalling that their village in Bitlis (Bedlîs) was burned by soldiers in 1994, turning their lives upside down. She said not only their homes but also their animals were destroyed. Karabaş added: “I was 20 years old when our village was burned. I wasn’t in the village that day, but both my husband’s family and my parents were there. My mother-in-law became ill in the fields that day from the horror of what was happening and she died. She was elderly and already unwell; when the house was set on fire, the younger ones took her to the fields, and she had a heart attack out of fear. People were forced to leave. Everyone scattered in different directions. We suffered deeply because of this war, we lost our loved ones, and our eyes were always on the road, waiting.”

Karabaş stated that this is why peace is their most urgent demand and continued: “Whether Kurdish or Turkish, peace matters to all peoples. We must build peace first, and this cannot be achieved through unilateral steps. The state and Parliament must also take action and show that they are sincere about this process. The commission must go to Imralı, the necessary legislation must be enacted without delay, and Mr. Abdullah Öcalan must attain his physical freedom. Unless Mr. Öcalan is free, the Kurdish people will not be free.”

I came to understand my identity as a woman and as a Kurd thanks to the Kurdish movement

Resime Karabaş said violence and killings targeting women have intensified with each passing year, yet women have not been able to act collectively in response. Without collective action, she warned, women will continue to face even greater levels of male violence. Karabaş added: “Women must refuse restrictions on their freedom from the very beginning. For example, they should not accept men imposing things like ‘You will cook’ or ‘You will not leave the house.’ At first, I thought this was normal, because women didn’t object. There was a deeply rooted mindset around this. I didn’t know my rights as a woman, and I didn’t even know that the Kurdish people existed.”

Karabaş also said her perspective changed profoundly through the Kurdish movement: “It was thanks to the Kurdish movement that I realised my identity as a woman and as a Kurd. My horizons opened; my thoughts changed. It is because of this movement that I know and recognise myself today as a Kurdish woman. Without this movement, without Mr. Öcalan, the Kurdish people could not have come this far. Of course, as Kurds, we trust ourselves and we believe peace will come, but we do not trust the other side. For us to trust, they must first show sincerity.”

Just as we resisted for our identity, we will resist discrimination against women

Peace Mothers member Fince Akman said violence and killings targeting women have continued for years, yet no meaningful measures have been taken, and the state continues to protect male perpetrators. She stressed that they have never accepted, and will never accept, this cycle, and that they will take to the streets on 25 November to demand a complete change. Equality, she noted, is the foundation of resolving any issue. Akman said, “Men cannot see themselves as superior to women, cannot crush women through psychological or physical violence, and cannot silence them through killings. We do not accept this. Just as we have resisted for years the state’s attempts to deny our Kurdish identity and silence us through violence and massacres, we will also resist discrimination against women.”

Everyone knows this process cannot move forward through one-sided steps

Akman said peace will once again be their central demand on 25 November, adding that a new process has begun and that Mothers for Peace will do everything they can to help it evolve into a lasting peace. She emphasised that everyone understands a process like this cannot advance through unilateral steps. Akman said, “Mr. Öcalan took a step and made his call; the organisation burned its weapons. Now the state must take a step, the government must take a step. We are waiting for these steps. We sacrificed so many people; the prisons are overflowing. What are they waiting for to act?”

Soldiers’ mothers must also raise their voices for peace

Fince Akman said her children, like many others, are being held in prison unlawfully. Akman also said: “My son Lokman was arbitrarily sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for a crime he did not commit. He is ill, and they are preventing his treatment. My daughter is also in prison. Both of my children are in jail for nothing. What is the state waiting for to free political prisoners and seriously ill prisoners? Instead of emptying the prisons, they have packed even more people into them. We say enough. This oppression must end. We have been struggling for peace for years. We have held vigils against rights violations in prisons; we have been handcuffed and beaten during detentions countless times. We do not want war, we want peace and justice. Mothers never want war. Soldiers’ mothers must also raise their voices for peace. The demand for peace cannot be one-sided. And for precisely this reason, as Peace Mothers, we will amplify our call for peace more strongly than ever in this process.”