AMED - TJA activist Fatma Ablay emphasized that Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan must be physically freed immediately, stating that the solution to the current problems is directly linked to this.

 

Tevgera Jinên Azad (TJA) will launch a major march from Amed to Ankara on October 1, demanding the freedom of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and the removal of obstacles facing the people. The march's declaration was announced on October 25 at the Cemil Paşa Mansion in the Sur district of Amed, with the participation of many women. The march, which will be held under the slogan “We are walking towards freedom with hope,” will begin with a press statement on October 1 and end in Ankara on October 7. The women will march based on 5 demands, 7 headings, and 7 points; the route will be from Amed to Riha, Dîlok, Adana, Mersin, Sincan, and Ankara.

 

TJA activist Fatma Ablay shared her thoughts on the march.

 

‘5 demands, 7 headings, 7 points…’

 

Fatma Ablay stated that the upcoming large march was being organized with the demand for the physical freedom of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who does not separate his own freedom from the freedom of society, and said, "We are organizing this march for the physical freedom of a People's Leader who does not separate his own freedom from the freedom of society; who has determined the roadmap for the upcoming processes and published it in a manifesto, and who is still being held in isolation in Imrali. And we consider this march as a process initiated for women to have a say in this path. Of course, we will have demands during this march. Our march is planned with 5 demands, 7 headings, and 7 points. We plan to start with a statement in Amed and conclude by participating in a group meeting in Ankara on October 7. Yes, our march will start in Amed and continue to Urfa; specifically, we have a plan for Hilvan and Halfeti. After that, we plan to end in Antep, Adana, Mersin, Sincan, and Ankara."

 

Women will also march to say ‘stop’ to problems

 

Fatma Ablay, who stated that they planned the march to demand solutions to the problems faced by society as a whole every day, said, "We are planning to start this march with 250 women. One of our demands is the creation of physical conditions for the leadership. Another demand is the recognition of the Kurdish people's existence, identity, and language rights, and that these collectively experienced rights violations be brought to the constitutional level as soon as possible. As you know, we recently faced the reality of a trustee once again. We have been facing a system that has criminalized the co-presidency system for years. The official recognition of the co-presidency system and the reinstatement of the elected co-presidents to their positions are among our other demands."

 

‘The solution to problems lies in democratic politics’

 

“This is neither a beginning nor an end,” said Fatma Ablay, stating that women will continue their work until they achieve success. “Of course, our actions and our work will continue until we succeed. Again, when we look at it, there has been a massacre of women for years. There has been exploitation for years. Therefore, unfortunately, these are not issues that can be resolved in the short term. We experience more of this every day. But for the solution to be found through democratic means or for institutions to become functional, this process must be resolved as soon as possible. 

 

We will address one issue every day. For example, in the current system, there are ongoing social problems in Turkey and Kurdistan, ranging from the genocide of women to suicides. When we look at these issues, the responsibility lies with democratic politics; if Mr. Abdullah Öcalan is leading democratic politics today, then the first step is to secure Mr. Öcalan's physical freedom. Looking at the issue from another angle, the fact that the person who is driving the process and leading it is not working under functional conditions is in itself an unfair method."

 

‘If it is a sincere process, Mr. Öcalan must be heard’

 

Emphasizing that Abdullah Öcalan must be heard one-on-one in order to believe in the sincerity of the process of discussing democracy and peace, Fatma Ablay said, “We have been fighting for existence, identity, and language for years. And we consider this to be one of the areas of struggle. Now, looking at the current process, if there is a system that accepts that the process will be resolved through peaceful and democratic means, then there is no point in prolonging, postponing, or delaying the process. Today, there is a commission formed within the Turkish Grand National Assembly. 

 

Therefore, one of our demands is that this commission should listen to Mr. Öcalan as soon as possible under the necessary free conditions and hear his demands directly from him. If a call has been made today, then the requirements of this call must also be fulfilled. Today, it was said that politics should be done in Parliament. However, the appropriate conditions for this have not yet been established. Therefore, this does not seem realistic. In other words, for it to be realistic, the conditions for freedom of language, existence, identity, and leadership must be established as soon as possible. These steps must be taken for it to become a reality."

 

‘The democracy commission needs to be operational’

 

Fatma Ablay pointed out that the state has yet to take any action, saying, “We still haven’t seen any clear steps from the system. And this calls into question the sincerity of their intentions. That is why we women are planning this process, this march. That's why we started with the slogan ‘We are walking towards freedom with hope’. Today, the address clearly indicated by the Council of Ministers is once again the newly formed democracy commission. Therefore, during this process, the democracy commission must be operational and carry out its responsibilities to recognize rights and work on the necessary laws and regulations."

 

Finally, Fatma Ablay invited all women to join the big march.