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In pictures: Kurds mourn slain activists

Thousands of women and children rallied in Turkey to commemorate killed activists and to highlight gender equality.

Thousands of Kurdish women took to the streets to commemorate the assassination in January of three Kurdish women in Paris and to mark the upcoming International Women(***)s Day.
By Mahmut Bozarslan and Umut Uras
Published On 4 Mar 2013

Thousands of Kurdish women have marched in the southeastern region of Turkey, commemorating three Kurdish women assassinated in France in January. The rallies on Sunday were part of a series of events planned for the week to observe the upcoming International Women’s Day.

The largest demonstration was held in Diyarbakir, the region’s biggest city, which has been torn apart by clashes between the army and pro-Kurdish armed group Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for more than 30 years.

Thousands of women shouted slogans protesting the death of the three women. 

PKK members Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez were shot dead at the Kurdistan Information Bureau in Paris on January 10.

Gultan Kisanak, the female co-leader of Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), also attended the demonstration initiated by Democratic Free Women Movement, a Kurdish NGO. BDP has 29 members in parliament.

The demonstrators also shouted slogans opposing violence against women in Turkey and in support of gender equality.

The rally came during talks between the Turkish intelligence agency and imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to find a solution to the decades-long armed conflict.

A message from Ocalan was also read at the event, in which he said, “People whose women are not free cannot be free”. The message drew loud applause.

A Kurdish NGO, the Democratic Free Women Movement, organised the rally that also highlighted the issue of gender equality.
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A child covered her face with a Democratic Free Women Movement banner.
“We will be a bridge to peace, not war,” one banner says. “End to sexual, class-based, national exploitation,” says the other.
The police did not let banners with the names of the three assassinated Kurdish women into the demonstration.
Children also took part in the rally, waving flags and banners.
Women shouted slogans opposing violence against women in Turkey. “No to women slaughter,” the above banner reads. 
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Some of the Kurdish women attended the demonstration in clothes decorated with traditional Kurdish colours and Kurdistan Workers(***) Party (PKK) signs.
The demonstration came during talks between Turkey(***)s intelligence agency and imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to find a solution to the decades-long armed conflict.
A message from PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was also read at the event, in which he said, “People whose women are not free cannot be free”.