Activists in Amed rally in solidarity with the women-led uprising in East Kurdistan

In Amed, activists expressed solidarity with the women-led uprising in East Kurdistan.

In many cities in North Kurdistan, women took to the streets on Saturday to express their solidarity with the “Jin Jiyan Azadî” uprising in Eastern Kurdistan and Iran.

Amed was no exception. Women held a statement at Dağkapı Square. The women's platform Dicle-Amed (DAKP) and the Network Against Violence promoted the action. Green Left Party MP Halide Türkoğlu and HDP provincial association leader Gülistan Atasoy also took part in the rally.

The activists marched into the square in a long line, with the slogan “Jin Jiyan Azadî” (Woman Life Freedom) written on signs using individual letters. The march was opened by a picture of Jina Mahsa Amini, whose violent death a year ago triggered the uprisings in Rojhilat and Iran. 

A minute's silence was held at the beginning of the rally. A statement was then read out in Kurdish to pay tribute to the struggle by women in different parts of Kurdistan.

“Women have been forced into inhumane lives and murdered for a long time. Behind this is the system of male dominance. Today, women in many countries around the world are taking to the streets and rebelling with the slogan Jin Jiyan Azadî,” the statement said.

Green Left Party MP Halide Türkoğlu said that "Jin Jiyan Azadî” is not just a slogan, but rather a philosophy of life: it means that women defend life. We are fighting for an equal and free life, for a dignified life." 

After the speeches, a five-minute sit-in was held, which ended with the slogans "The states are different, the murderers are the same" and "Jin Jiyan Azadî".