HDP parliamentarian: Women havr unequal rights with men, Erdogan's rhetoric is senseless

 In Turkey, the role of women is known as an ongoing struggle for gender equality, as they are prone to all forms of physical and psychological violence, and to killing in the name of “honour.” Moreover, the report of the “No to Crimes against Women” platform calls attention to that 29 women were killed during last November, this figure constitutes alarm among Turkish women's circles.

 Statistics indicate that a large proportion of murders against women result from domestic violence, with 69% of murders and violence against women occurring in the home.

 Not to mention, the ruling Justice and Development Party, led by Erdogan, does not allow women in all fields for women, and a large number of them, especially Kurdish activists, are subjected to arbitrary measures, the most recent of which was the targeting of a HDP member on June 17 of this year, on the party's headquarters in Izmir.

 Meanwhile, the Turkish people in charge sentenced the politician, Leyla Guven, to 5 years in prison for her previous statements in 2020. In addition to launching simultaneous raids on women’s institutions, politicians, activists and journalists in all cities of Bakûr Kurdistan, and arresting a number of their members.

 The co-chair of the HDP and party's MP, Tolay Hatem Ogolari, said during an exclusive statement to our agency, that the forms of oppression and violence against women have enlarged in-order during the rule of the AKP in its nineteen years in power.

  The MP added: "Femicides and violence against women increased by 1,400 percent between the first of January and the end of November of this year, not to mention that, during nearly a year (326 days),"  At least 285 women were killed by men, and at least 193 women were reported as "suspects", with the man borne violence on at least 711 women, but the AKP government - instead of taking measures to stop the male-dominated violence - withdrew from the Istanbul Agreement.

 And last Sunday, the leader of the Justice and Development Party, Erdogan, said in a video message on the occasion of the 87th anniversary of granting women the right to run and vote in elections in Turkey, "Turkey gave women the right to run and vote before many European countries."  They had the right to run and vote in 1934, "but they began to use their right freely with the Justice and Development Party."

 During his speech, he also claimed to continue working to find solutions to the problems of women, particularly violence against women, but here the question lies: What will Turkey protect women from violence if it is the most violent party?

 'The AKP government does not tolerate women who oppose the domination of work, body and identity'

The MP pointed out that the AKP government considers only women as mothers and wives, adding: "Under his rule, it focused on women's achievements and turned the "Ministry of Women's Affairs" into the "Ministry of the Family", and this means that Recep Tayyip Erdogan's words, especially for us,  Women, it doesn't make sense."

 And she added, "The AKP government is outside the "acceptable" personality for women. It does not tolerate women who oppose the domination of work, the body, and identity, and we see this every day in the AKP's speeches and in the language of its media outlets. The AKP will never give up  For his offensive language against women who oppose his rule, and because of his intolerance, he pressures women’s institutions, arrests female parliamentarians and mayors of the HDP, and attacks the co-presidency system, which is one of the most important achievements of women’s struggle in the world.

 And she indicated: The authorities want women to stay in their homes, not to engage in politics or do any work, but women in Turkey do not give in to this, and the Turkish and Kurdish women's movements strongly oppose this.

 'Women in Turkey do not have equal representation with men in politics'

 Regarding the AKP leader’s claims to grant women the right to run for office, Tolay Ogolari said: “Women in Turkey do not enjoy equal representation with men in politics and at work, only (17%) of the 582 female parliamentarians are women. The party that has the highest  representation of women is the HDP, and in return, within the Justice and Development Party, the representation of women is symbolic.

 Not to mention, there is a sexist attitude towards women's wages, so one of the main slogans of the women's movement in Turkey as in the rest of the world is "equal work, equal pay". The current economic crisis is largely on the shoulders of women.

 Parliamentarian Tolay Ogolari touched on the policy of the Justice and Development Party, which did not fulfill its promises and said, "If we look at the actions carried out by the party during 19 years of its rule, the people are fighting for human rights, labour, women, students, youth, environment, democracy, justice and peace. They have no confidence in the Justice and Development Party.”

 The parliamentarian referred to the pressure exerted on the HDP and Kurdish women in particular, as it is very upset with their resistance. Whoever killed Deniz Poyraz received his armed training in Manbij, and the hostility of ISIS, Al-Nusra and gangs loyal to the Turkish state against women we saw in the assassination of Poyraz.

She also emphasized that the AKP that targets Kurdish women in particular, such as Kurdish activist Leyla Guven, and spokeswoman for the Free Women's Movement (TJA) Aisha Gökan, does not lead to a deterioration of morale among Kurdish women, the Kurdish people and the Turkish women's movement. On the contrary, it increases their struggle.

 She added, "Despite all the warnings and demands from the women's movement, no action plan was announced to prevent violence against women, and despite the visit of civil society organizations to the Foundation for Combating Violence, the law was violated under the pretext of the pandemic," noting: "International treaties and laws have not been effectively implemented.  And Adel, even during the Corona pandemic and the imposition of the ban, the terms of protection were restricted and admission to homes became more difficult, so in Turkey there is a serious problem related to official data in cases of violence against women and femicide, and accurate data cannot be available.

 'We will defend our gains'

 The parliamentarian indicated that the Justice and Development Party's actions against women are clear. They withdrew from the Istanbul Agreement and discussed Law No. 6284 as a product of women's struggle, but it is not possible for women to create problems on their own, continue with them and resolve current disputes.

 At the end of the meeting, the HDP's co-chairman and parliamentarian, Tolay Hatem Ogolari, pledged to vigorously defend the gains achieved, and said: "We will not give up the gains we made through the struggle against patriarchal, authoritarian and capitalist violence and all kinds of attacks."

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 ANHA