Women in Turkey’s Diyarbakır commemorate Mahsa Amini

Vecdi Erbay / Gazete Duvar

Women organizations in Turkey’s southeastern Diyarbakır province on Sept. 16 marched in memory of Jina Mahsa Amini, the Iranian woman arrested and tortured to death for allegedly violating mandatory headscarf regulations in 2022. 

Women gathered in front of the Diyarbakır Courthouse and attempted to march to Sheikh Said Square but were blocked by police. A brief scuffle broke out between the women and police officers. After negotiations, the women were allowed to march to the square, chanting “Jin Jiyan Azadi” (“Women, Life, Freedom”).

At Sheikh Said Square, police surrounded the women as they read a statement. Filiz Kaydu from the Rosa Women’s Association delivered the statement. 

Kaydu said, “During Amini’s funeral in her hometown, the people, led by Kurdish women, raised their voices in resistance against Iran’s oppressive regime with the slogan ‘Jin Jiyan Azadi.’ Jina became a symbol in protests that spread from Iran to the rest of the world, and this slogan took on a universal meaning. Women removed their enforced headscarves and chanted revolutionary songs in Kurdish and Farsi.”

Kaydu also addressed the case of Narin Güran, the eight-year-old who turned up dead 19 days after going missing in rural Diyarbakır. 

She said that women have followed her case closely and criticized the lack of an effective investigation into her murder. “The state’s intelligence, which prides itself on covering the country with surveillance cameras, could not find Narin for days,” she said. “Documents from the case were leaked to the media as if to tip off the suspects, and all legal norms were violated to ensure their escape from justice. The bullets found in the village, the family’s connections, and the village’s strategic importance have only increased suspicion. As Kurds who know too well what it means to have loved ones disappear, we are determined not to let the same dark forces resurface.”

Kaydu continued, “We are pursuing the murderers of Narin, as well as those who protect them. We are pursuing the killers of two-year-old Sıla, who was raped and murdered. We are pursuing the judiciary that released the suspects in the case of the child raped in eastern Iğdır province. 

“We are pursuing justice for Hilal Kar, who was killed on June 23, and for Sudenaz, who was murdered in Amed (Diyarbakır) just yesterday. We are pursuing those responsible for the murder of Jina Amini and those who executed protesters following her death. We are on the streets to demand justice for all murdered women.”

Kaydu concluded her speech by saying, “We are on the streets to say no to those who, under the guise of religion, use women’s bodies and lives to maintain their power, and to those who kill women with militarism and war policies. We say no to their dirty alliances. We are here to declare that women’s resistance continues to grow in the face of reactionary regimes. Our women’s revolution is spreading from Iran to Amed. 

“Women will win, and freedom will prevail,” the protesters chanted.

Meanwhile, the southeastern Mardin Metropolitan Municipality Co-Chair Devrim Demir attended a press statement commemorating the second anniversary of Jina Mahsa Amini’s death, organized by Tevgera Jinên Azad (Free Women's Movement) (TJA). 

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party Mardin deputies Saliha Aydeniz and Beritan Güneş Altın, along with party members and citizens, also participated. After gathering in front of the DEM Party Mardin Provincial Building, the group marched to the 15 July Democracy and Martyrs Park, where a press statement was read. Deputy Saliha Aydeniz also addressed the crowd, and the statement included a tribute to Narin Güran, emphasizing that the struggle for justice for Narin and all women would continue.

(English version by Ayşenaz Toptaş)