TJA kicks off celebrations for 8 March in Van

TJA kicked off the celebrations for 8 March, International Women's Day, in Van.

The Free Women's Movement (Tevgera Jinên Azad-TJA) kicked off the activities for 8 March, International Women's Day, with a press release read in Van (Wan). The press conference was attended by DEM party candidates for the municipal elections of 31 March and numerous women activists. The women said they will build democratic politics and an egalitarian life at the grassroots level through the transformative power of women.

The TJA began its actions and events in Van. The statement was read in front of the provincial organization building of the DEM Party, where members of the Wan Women's Council of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), DEM Party, leaders and members of the Wan Women's Platform and the Star Women's Association (Star-Der) had gathered.

Neslihan Şedal, co-mayor candidate for Van Metropolitan Municipality of the DEM party, and female candidates for Van Districts Municipality also attended the press conference. The women opened a banner in Kurdish on which was written Em jin bi hevra li dijî tecrîdê azadiyê, li dijî şer aşitî diparêzin (We, women, defend freedom against isolation, peace against war) and held in their hands photos of murdered and missing Kurdish women. The women chanted slogans such as “Jin, jiyan, azadî”, “end the isolation of Imrali”.

The women also paid tribute to journalist-writer Nagihan Akarsel, a member of the Jineoloji Research Center, murdered in Suleymaniyah on 4 October 2022.

TJA said that the 21st century will be the century of women's liberation and added:

"As March 8 approaches, we first salute the women who are fighting for women's freedom in different parts of the world. We bow with respect to the women who lost their lives in the women's liberation struggle and reaffirm our commitment to their memory. With the strength we received from Roza (Rosa Luxemburg), Sara (Sakine Cansiz, aka Sara), Evin (Emine Kara, aka Evîn Goyî), Zelal (Firyal Silêman Xalid, aka Zelal Zagros) and thousands of other women pioneers, we are again in the fields, streets and squares on 8 March.

In the world, in the Middle East and in Kurdistan, we welcome another 8 March in the shadow of wars, economic crises, massacres of women, ecological massacres and inequalities, but also with the struggle and resistance of women against patriarchal policies."