The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and Green Left Party Women's Assemblies announced the final declaration of the meeting where they discussed the May 14 and 28 elections and their results.

The declaration said: “The government and its alliances, which feared the change that our women's liberation paradigm would bring about in the election process, have increased their attacks against women and negotiated over our achievements. The judicial crackdown and detentions directed against women’s freedom struggle continued increasingly in the election process as well.”

‘The target is the growing solidarity and organization of women’

Pointing to the attacks against the essence of the women’s struggle, the declaration stated: “We know the target of the misogynist fascist government, which appoints trustees to the achievements won by the Kurdish women's struggle at great cost and tries to suppress our struggle through detentions and arrests. What is targeted is women's liberation struggle and the growing solidarity and organization of women.”

The declaration further stated the following:

“Our Co-Chair, Pervin Buldan, was subjected to an attack by the digital media of the government, which actually targeted women's participation in democratic politics. Of course, we are a party that is open to all kinds of criticism and self-criticism. However, we did not and will not allow any attempt by the government to discredit our politics under the cover of criticism. All women know that this is an attack directed against our women's liberation paradigm. They can halt neither women’s politics or the achievements of their struggle through such methods.

‘As long as isolation continues, attacks on women will not stop’

Warmongering policies reproduce and deepen misogynistic policies instead of offering a democratic solution to the Kurdish question. As long as the absolute isolation (of Abdullah Öcalan) continues on Imrali (Prison Island), the government will keep attacking women and their achievements. On this basis, we emphasize once again that the isolation should be lifted for the sake of honourable pro-peace policies against war.”

'We will organize women's meetings at local level'

We came to these days through our labour. We will never degrade the determination of historical women’s struggle into election results. We prepared the content of our declaration regarding the electoral process based on the accumulation of Kurdish women’s struggle. We decided to reflect the common struggle of women's movements in our work during the election process as well. However, we found out that we could not provide integrity in consistence with the content of our election manifesto. We could not provide a political representation that would ensure pluralism, including disabled women, sexual identities, beliefs and peoples, although it was included in our declaration. The insufficiency we experienced is not acceptable to us. We, as the HDP and the Green Left Party Women's Assemblies, are entering a restructuring process. We will resolutely set forth the line of struggle with women's meetings we will launch at local level. On one hand, we will overcome our deficiencies, and, on the other, we will start an organizational mobilization through restructuring that will reach out to all women. We will do self-criticism by expanding the struggle.  

‘We are in every area of life’

We do not judge the justification of our struggle according to the election results. The one-man regime and the misogynistic alliance are not the winners and women are not the losers of the elections. We will not renounce our struggle to reclaim our usurped rights. The parliament has now become a more male-dominated assembly. We, however, are more than just an assembly. We are the ones who carry representation from the streets to the parliament. We are in every area of life.

The authoritarian regime has entered a new phase of self-consolidation. All the dynamics of struggle, especially women's movements, will be restructured according to the new period. We will lead a stronger line of struggle in social life, in our party and in the parliament, to confront the increasingly male-dominated policies. We are preparing to discuss this process at each of our boards at local level and to make further progress.

Let no one fall into despair. Fortunately, we have an organized women's struggle. We have the solidarity and struggle of women. We, women, are here and will not allow the enemies of women in either the parliament or on the streets.

'No option other than to struggle'

Here is our appeal to all women: we will increase women's solidarity with all our differences, identities, faiths and languages. We have no option other than to struggle. We will defend ourselves and build together by strengthening the struggle and organization. The future is ours, to be painted in the colors we wish.”