A Woman Mayor in Mardin
Ayse Karadag, the Derik mayor, has been an active participant in politics since 1991. She starts out with just overhearing about politics because of her husband's political identity. Then she becomes an active participant in politics with the establishment of the pro-Kurdish People's Labor Party (HEP).
She participates in HEP's women branches, establishes the Freedom and Democracy party (OZDEP), becomes a deputy candidate for the third region in the general elections in 1994, run as candidate for mayor of Beyoglu in the 1995 local elections, and becomes elected as Derik mayor in 1999 by winning 65 percent of the votes.
Aren't there any men left in Derik?
At first, there is some anti propaganda against Karadag. Especially men criticize her becoming a mayor and say, "Aren't there any men left in Derik? A woman cannot become a mayor."
Ayse Karadag says that she was not known in Derik.
"I came to Derik after I became a candidate. We had a month and a half long of election propaganda. We gathered at the coffee shops. We did not promise for anything we would not be able to accomplish. We only chatted with people. It was a very exhilarating and contentious election. The people did not vote for the candidate. They voted for the party they believed in."
The Police voted for Karadag
Karadag gets the votes of especially women and the younger generation. But she also gets votes from 18 of the 35 houses in the police lodgings. Karadag comments on this by saying:
This was the first time "People's Democracy Party (HADEP) participated in an election in Derik. This shows that some of the police officers believed that HADEP would give rise to a democratic environment in Derik. This, of course, was very joyous for us."
The difficulties of a feudal structure
Karadag, who lost her husband due to health problems, enters a lonely and tough competition in the world of men after she becomes a mayor. She is faced with the resistance of the male deputies after she takes on the mission in Derik, where there still is a feudal structure.
For example, there were men, who said, "How can we follow the commands of a woman?" There were men who couldn't accept this situation and who made it an "issue of pride." During a meeting, a male deputy responded to a criticism directed towards him by saying, "I am a man, and you, as a woman, have hurt me."
Karadag tells about the interesting things she goes through:
* Sometimes they connect the telephone directly to me.
* But the voice on the phone says, "daughter, can you
please connect me to mister mayor?"
* There still are people who say "Mister Chief" or
"Sir Chief."
* They cannot accept it because they are not used to having a woman mayor.
We have accomplished the arduous
* The important thing is to accomplish what seems to be impossible.
* We are trying hard despite all of the difficulties.
* The people who put us through problems see that we are right in the end.
* I mean, we are on ourselves and we are struggling to accomplish the arduous.
* As we get the fruits of our struggles, our self-confidence and strength to struggle increases.
* We get stronger as we accomplish more.
Ayse Karadag, has to deal with the shortcomings of the municipality besides the difficulties of being a woman. The municipality she took over after she became a mayor was wreckage.
She does not receive money from the Government for two months after she becomes a mayor. She cannot pay the personnel who had not been paid for the past 18 months.
The fact that the former mayor gets 65 billions of Turkish (USD 44, 000) Liras from the Government as an advance payment for the election although he was not a candidate becomes an extra load on Karadag's shoulders. She pays 100 billions for the debt of the advance payment.
Ayse Karadag lists the things she has accomplished in Derik since she became a mayor three years ago
* We always paid our personnel on time.
* We mended the roads. Derik roads are asphalted for the first time in 65 years.
* There was a water problem in Derik. We opened water wells.
* We bought parquet stone machines, compressors and construction machines. We lay down parquet stones.
* We are trying to recreate Derik. We have a lot of problems but we are trying to overcome them.
* The personnel we have are the personnel whom the former mayor appointed. We used to have wide differences in opinions. But now, they have started understanding us.
The mother of 20 thousand
Besides being a mayor, Karadag is the mother of three children. However, her role as a mother is of secondary importance now.
She has taken upon the mission of being the mother of a population of 20 thousand.
"Now, I have taken upon a more sacred mission," said Karadag.
"A sense of democracy dominates in the nature of being a mother. I cannot be tough because I am a mother. I cannot be tough to my personnel. We are trying to solve our problems through dialogue." (NK/BB/EA/NM)