The Free Women’s Movement (TJA) is organising a workshop in the northern Kurdish city of Amed (Diyarbakır) to discuss the Treaty of Lausanne on its hundredth anniversary.

Members of parliament from the Green Left Party, the co-president of the Alevi association DAD, Kadriye Doğan, women mayors from Kurdish municipalities who have been ousted and replaced by trustees and representatives of various civil society organisations are taking part in the meeting.

Discussions will be held on topics such as "Myths and Facts of the Treaty of Lausanne", "One Hundred Years of Cultural Resistance to Lausanne", "Minority Languages in the Treaty of Lausanne", "Kurdistan after the Treaty of Lausanne " and "Effects on the Syriac and Alevi Communities".

Kurdish politician Çağlar Demirel stated in her welcoming speech that the workshop will discuss the impact of the decisions taken in Lausanne a hundred years ago. The meeting, she said, will focus in particular on the Kurdish, Alevi, Syriac, Armenian and Yazidi communities. "These discussions have so far been conducted mainly by men. The Treaty of Lausanne was also concluded exclusively by men. We will talk about how women were destroyed, denied and assimilated by a male-dominant mindset. We women have achieved great things and experienced great suffering in Mesopotamia. Now we want to discuss what we want to do after this century. This discussion is of great importance to us. Women have not accepted genocide in the last hundred years and will not continue to do so. We want to talk about the unity of peoples and make a joint decision. Men may not be capable of unity, but as TJA, the unity of peoples is a basis of our struggle anyway,” Demirel said.

Demirel pointed out that Kurds everywhere are discussing the effects of the Treaty of Lausanne and their demands today on the anniversary of the Treaty on 24 July. The results of the meeting in Amed will be published after its conclusion.