The Free Women's Movement (Tevgera Jinên Azad-TJA) is holding a two-day conference titled "Chain of Silence: Breaking the Walls Surrounding Women Political Prisoners" with the participation of international guests in a hotel in Sur district of Amed (Diyarbakır).

During the conference, Martina Anderson, a former member of the European Parliament, made a speech about women's struggle and approaches towards women in prison. Anderson said, "As TJA, you struggle against the unequal, hierarchical and violence-producing ideology that gives birth to and sustains patriarchy with the idea that 'when women are liberated, society is liberated'. You struggle to build 'a democratic life in a democratic society'. Your determination to address human rights issues affecting women, particularly in challenging political environments, speaks directly to me."

Martina Anderson stated that Ireland has gained political experience in the centuries-long struggle for national independence.

‘Women will live a democratic life in a democratic society’

Recalling her visit to the imprisoned Kurdish politician Leyla Güven during her hunger strike in 2018-2019, Martina Anderson said, "Once again, I send a message of solidarity to Leyla in prison. There is no doubt that we women have a lot more work to do to throw patriarchy off our backs. We can rightly say to this conference that 'the cause of women's freedom is the cause of society's freedom, and the cause of society's freedom is the cause of women's freedom'. They cannot be separated. The unequal, hierarchical and violent ideologies that give birth to and sustain patriarchy will come to an end. Because as women in struggle, we will continue to challenge them wherever and whenever they raise their ugly heads. I stand here with the belief that together we will eliminate them from society. I have no doubt that one day women will live a democratic life in a democratic society."

‘Nation states on the verge of bankruptcy are attacking women's struggle’

Speaking after, TJA activist Figen Ekti said, "At such a time when nation states on the verge of bankruptcy are raising the wave of fascism to attack women's struggle in order to establish themselves in the Middle East, Kurdistan and all over the world, it is really historical that TJA brings together hundreds of women from different geographies. This will also enlighten the coming period of struggle."

Figen Ekti stated that both she herself and her relatives had been imprisoned at different times, recalling that she had been jailed in Sivas Prison along with 125 women in 1993, and that she had been sent to Sincan Prison during her last imprisonment. She said that 21 years later, she met again in prison with the women she had been imprisoned with years ago.

Figen Ekti pointed out that prisons are places to take over the will with more subtle methods and said, "After the 1980s, Sakine Cansız's words 'I was ashamed to say ‘ah’ as a militant of a just cause' against a general like Esat Oktay Yıldıran, who had no sense of humanity, are enough to explain the resistance against torture there."

'Abdullah Öcalan's paradigm has spread everywhere'

Figen Ekti emphasised that an unspoken agenda in prisons is the incidents of sexual violence and rape during detention and imprisonment and recalled what was done to Garibe Gezer. Ekti continued, "Leyla Güven is still in prison. When she went on hunger to end the isolation, we saw how the women's struggle grew in the world. Women are resisting all over the world. There are women resisting and struggling everywhere, both in the ranks of freedom, outside and in exile. No matter how they attack, we have a spirit of resistance that does not take a blow. It is very important that this spirit sprouts again."

Figen Ekti stated that the slogan "Jin, Jiyan, Azadî" (Woman, Life, Freedom), which is in the paradigm of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, has spread everywhere and added, "If this slogan is rising, the winner and success of the struggle in the 21st century is the women's freedom struggle."