This is the first time a group of well-known women intellectuals including journalists and
writers had come to Diyarbakir or for that matter to Southeastern Anatolia The most
important note struck by the visiting committee of women was that the women of Diyarbakir
were not alone; the most important problem was that of language -- Kurdish women don't
know Turkish due to circumstances beyond their control

Mar 19, 2001

Gul Demir

Diyarbakir - Turkish Daily News

Carnations and complaints were the order of the day when a group of 24 women from
Ankara and Istanbul arrived in Diyarbakir on Saturday morning. This was the first time a
committee of well-known women intellectuals, including journalists and writers, had come
to Diyarbakir or for that matter to Southeastern Anatolia. The trip was organized together
with the Diyarbakir Women's Platform.

The women of Diyarbakir along with young girls in traditional costume met the group with
carnations as well as complaints within the framework of "Women's Support for Peace."
Actress Turkan Soray was supposed to attend but at the last minute she was taken ill. Those
who attended were Duygu Asena, Perihan Magden, Zeynep Oral,
Nilgun Cerrahoglu, Sukran Soner, Vicdan Baykara, Guler Kazmaci, Zeynep Atikkan, Pinar
Selek, Julide Kural, Ayse Duzkan, Pelin Erda, Sema Pekdas, Zubeyde Atay, Nemika
Tugcu, Gulsen Alpay, Semra Somersan, Zeynep Avci, Halime Guner, Yasan Seyman,
Fusun Sayek, Saynur Varisli and Elif Ergun.

The two-day program started with a meeting with Kurdish women from the region in the
Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipal Meeting Salon. A large group of women had gathered
outside and were dispersed on the orders of the new Diyarbakir police chief. But before they
were dispersed, committee members went out on the balcony of the municipal building to
wave to the assembled women.

The names of the women who had come were also read out and for example feminist writer
Duygu Asena had an opportunity to say how the women of Diyarbakir were not alone.
Where peace, democracy, freedom of thought and human rights didn't exist, women were
enslaved; women in Diyarbakir and elsewhere in Turkey were equally enslaved. Asena's
words were supported by those of sociologist Pinar Selek who spoke about how all of them
felt the same things.

Even though the members of the committee lived fairly close to Diyarbakir -- it took them
approximately an hour and a half to reach the city by air -- the differences in their ways of
life were very striking. She suggested that the one way to bridge these differences was by
bringing the women together. Afterwards, during the meeting inside the group listened to the
problems faced by Kurdish women and debated ways in which these might be solved.

A major problem was identified as the fact that Kurdish women do not know Turkish and in
fact what was said at the meeting had to be translated into Kurdish and vice versa. One
reason for their lack of understanding was attributed to the 15 years of clashes in the East
and Southeast between members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the
Turkish military. One proposal to solve some of the problems was more publicity provided
by the women journalists and writers among the group.

The program on the second and last day took the women's group for breakfast to Carikli, a
tent village and the poorest area of Diyarbakir. Carikli consists of some 5-6,000 people who
had to leave their own villages and migrate to Diyarbakir because of the clashes with the
PKK.

The Piro Tuturmaz family was the host although the food offered was undoubtedly collected
from everywhere in the tent village. In the afternoon the participants went to Kayapinar to
plant trees as part of the conservation efforts in Diyarbakir before departing to Ankara and
Istanbul.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com