Young Women Form Self-Defence Teams In South East Turkey
Women carry the coffin of Sirin Oter, one of two women killed during security operations on Tuesday, during a funeral ceremony in Istanbul, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015. Security forces have killed 145 Kurdish rebels in a week in southeast Turkey, news agencies reported. The government imposed curfews in the mainly Kurdish towns of Cizre, Silopi and Sur as the security forces battle militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK who have moved their fight.
As police attacks escalate in the Kurdish town of Cizre, Turkey, young women have founded an autonomous self-defense unit.
The town of Cizre, in Şırnak province of Northern Kurdistan (in Turkey), is no stranger to police violence. As the AKP continues pushing war on the region, police have launched raids and attacks in many province. The state’s attacks have especially targeted women’s bodies. Recently, police tortured the naked body of Kurdish guerrilla Kevser Eltürk (nom de guerre Ekin Wan). They then posed with her dead body and shared photographs on social media.
Now, the young women of Cizre have formed a self-defense team named for Ekin Wan. They have hung posters of Kurdish woman resistance fighters throughout the streets of Cizre. Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) founder Sakine Cansız’s face now hangs over the streets. Fallen YPJ fighters who traveled to Rojava to fight in the revolution also appear on the posters.
The women announced that they have no ties with any organization. They said that they have autonomously founded the team “to stop the savagery waged on women’s bodies in the person of Ekin Wan.”
“The AKP government’s answer to the resolution process started by Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdish people, has been killings and imprisonment,” said a young woman named Zelal. “And we understood that the state never approaches the Kurdish people with sincerity.” She noted that the Turkish state has taken no steps in resolving the Kurdish issue. Instead, police have begun attacking civilians across the region.
“In Ekin Wan, we saw the state’s rage against women,” said Zelal. “So we founded a young women’s team.” The women have armed themselves and plan to defend themselves and their neighborhoods.
from Lions of Rojava Website.
Category: Kurdistan
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