Hundreds of women and supporters demonstrated on Tuesday in the Cizre district of Şırnak against escalating violence against women. The demonstration was organized by the Free Women's Movement (TJA), the DEM Party and DBP (Democratic Regions Party), and numerous civil society organizations, including the Peace Mothers and the Bar Association.

Under the slogan “Femicide is political,” the demonstrators marched from Art Street to Medrese Sor Square in the district center, chanting the slogans “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” (Woman, Life, Freedom) and “Hands off women!” The women's anger was directed against the patriarchal power system that not only tolerates violence but actively reproduces it through structural impunity.

“Violence is politically motivated”

“A woman is life – her murder is a disgrace to this society,” said Emine Gökçek, whose sister Sebahat Atabey was murdered by her brother-in-law in Adana a few days ago. The crime is one of a long list of deadly acts of violence against women, the background to which is all too often concealed and downplayed.

TJA activist Nafya Geçgel said: “The escalating violence is no coincidence, but the result of a system based on control over women's bodies, voices, and life choices. Every day, women in Kurdistan and throughout Turkey experience violence at the hands of men—covered up by a justice system that looks the other way and a political establishment that downplays structural oppression. These murders do not happen in a vacuum. They happen because the state allows them to happen.”

Geçgel cited the murder of Gülizar Yıldız in Silopi district ten days ago.The perpetrator later stated that he would have “ripped off the woman's head” if bystanders had not intervened. According to Geçgel, it is this openly expressed desire to destroy women that is thriving in the current political climate.

State inaction and systematic impunity

The demonstrators demanded not only justice for the victims, but also a fundamental political turnaround. “We are here so that Sebahat, Gülizar and many others do not die. We are here so that the perpetrators are no longer protected,” said Geçgel and stressed that Turkey must immediately reinstate the Istanbul Convention, which was repealed in 2021, as a minimum standard of international protection against gender-based violence.

Authoritarian backlash against social emancipation

Emine Özdemir, a lawyer with the Şırnak Bar Association, and trade unionist Siyajin Buruntekin from DISK also emphasized that systematic violence against women is not a marginal problem, but rather an expression of the authoritarian backlash against social emancipation. Both called for comprehensive legal, social, and political measures to combat patriarchal violence.