HAKKARİ - Muhsima Yaşar, who reacted to the disciplinary punishments given to the prisoner women for singing in Kurdish and dancing the halay, showed her reaction with the following words: ‘’We are against this system, we do not accept such practices and punishments. We will not stop speaking our mother tongue.’’

 

In Elazığ Women’s Closed Prison, a disciplinary investigation was initiated against nine female prisoners including the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Co-chair Leyla Güven, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Diyarbakır Provincial Co-chair Hülya Alökmen Uyanık, Vice-Chairperson of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) Fethiye Ok Çiçek and Yüksekova Municipality Co-mayor Remziye Yaşar, who was replaced by trustee. In the official report prepared against them within the scope of the investigation launched by the Elazığ Penitentiary Directorate on the grounds of their activity on August 15, the Kurdish songs and lyrics sung by the female prisoners were written as ‘’they dance the halay in an unkenned language’’ and ‘’sung an anthem in an unkenned language’’.

 

At the same time, four women prisoners were given a one-month communication punishment in Sincan Women’s Closed Prison for singing and dancing the halay. Erzurum’s Karayazı Municipality Co-mayor, Melike Göksu, who was replaced a trustee, from among the prisoners, stated in her phone call with her family that they were given a disciplinary punishment for singing and dancing the halay with her three friends who were in the same room with her a month ago.

 

‘Kurdish is our mother tongue’

 

Muhsima Yaşar, mother of Yüksekova Municipality Co-mayor Remziye Yaşar, who was held in Elazığ Women’s Closed Prison and who was replaced by a trustee, said that her daughter was also one of the prisoners punished. Muhsima, who described the punishment given to the prisoners as unlawful, said: ‘’When my daughter and her friends went to the airing, she sang in Kurdish to pass the time. They spoke in their mother tongue. On the grounds of this, they imposed a one-month phone and meeting ban on eight friends, including my daughter. My daughter was punished for singing in her own language. Kurdish is our mother tongue, we have to speak in our own language. They did not do anything against humanity, conscience and law. They are in prison, if they are not going to sing and spend time, how else will they spend time?’’

 

‘We are not ashamed of our Kurdishness, our heads are held high’

 

Muhsima stated that she did not find the punishment given to prisoner women correct, that they could not go to the meeting because of the pandemic, and that they could only communicate by phone. Muhsima continued: ‘’Phone and meeting ban were given, but we already knew their situation and how they were only over the phone. We do not accept the disciplinary punishment applied. This language has been given to us by Allah, and of course we will speak our own mother tongue. We are Kurds, we are not ashamed of our Kurdishness, our heads are always held high. How many languages are there in this world, none of them are banned, they only ban Kurdish. We are just like other people in the world. We stand tall and proud with our mother tongue. We will not stop speaking our mother tongue. We do not accept any punishment even if it is punished. No matter what they do, we will never give up. We are with our children until we die.’’

 

‘If you have Kurdish siblings, the Kurds also have a language’

 

Reacting to the expression ‘’an unknown language’’ used for Kurdish as a reason for the punishment, Muhsima said: ‘’Kurdish is a language, how can they not understand it? It means that they still did not know the Kurds. They know all the languages in the world, they don't know only Kurdish. When they have difficulties in every field until the evening, they say ‘my Kurdish siblings’. If you have Kurdish siblings, the Kurds also have a language. Kurdish is not an unkenned language. We are against this system, we do not accept such practices and punishments. If they say we are siblings, they have to accept our language as well. There is no law, justice and humanity in the country.’’