‘AKP is the biggest disaster that has ever happened to women in Turkey’

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Pervin Buldan spoke at the Parliamentary Group meeting of her party today (July 6).

The meeting was also attended by Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK) Co-Chair Esengül Demir, Green Left Party Co-Spokesperson Ayşe Erdem, Revolutionary Party Vice Chair Burcugül Çubuk, Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESK) Co-Chair Şükran Kablan Yeşim, KESK Women's Secretary Döne Gevher, Health and Social Service Laborers' Union (SES) Women's Secretary Selma Atabey, Education and Science Laborers' Union (Eğitim-Sen) Women's Secretary Simge Yardım Dağ, women from the New Life Association, Democratic Women's Movement, Şişli Etfal Initiative, Peace Mothers and academic Sevilay Çelenk, who was discharged from public service by a Statutory Decree.

In the introduction of her speech, HDP Co-Chair Buldan saluted the women struggling all across the country, such as the Saturday Mothers, who have been demanding justice for their enforced disappeared loved ones for yeats; Mısra Öz, who lost her son in the Çorlu train derailment; Bedriye Doku, whose daughter Gülistan Doku has been missing; Emine Şenyaşar, who lost her spouse and two sons in an armed conflict with the relatives of a ruling AKP MP in southeastern Urfa province.

'Necessary, essential, indispensable for women'

Referring to Turkey's withdrawal from the İstanbul Convention, which has become official since July 1, Buldan also saluted "the brave women who have been waging a struggle against the termination of the İstanbul Convention by filling the squares all across the country."

Underlining the importance of the Convention, from which Turkey has withdrawn by the Presidential decision of AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Buldan noted that "the İstanbul Convention is a Constitutional document for women, which addresses women's rights as a whole, improves and protects their rights and prevents the crimes targeting them."

"It is also a convention that requires the prevention of child abuse an effective struggle against these abuses. Therefore, it is necessary, essential and indispensable for women," stressed Buldan, adding:

But, a single man - with his male alliance - targeted a convention which assures the rights of women in all segments of society, from laborers to the unemployed, from the married to singles, from the young to children, from refugees to the women with disabilities and LGBTI+s, without any discrimination based on religion, language or identity.

'The male judiciary of the one man'

At this point, HDP's Buldan also referred to the Council of State, which rejected the requests for stay of execution and annulment of the Presidential decision pulling Turkey out of the İstanbul Convention:

That being the case, the Council of Stata has - in fact - proven once again that there is the male judiciary of the one man in this country.

"But, we - women - will not let these unlawful acts put into effect by a single signature. We will not let them usurp our rights by a single signature. We will not bow down," emphasized Pervin Buldan.

And as soon as we send away this government, we will put the İstanbul Convention back into force and ensure that it will be implemented effectively.

Erdoğan's remarks

Within this context, HDP Co-Chair Pervin Buldan also referred to the statement of President and AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on July 1, when the country officially withdrew from the Convention:

"The AKP Chair said in his speech on July 1, 'Just as our struggle against violence against women did not start with this convention, this struggle will not end by withdrawing from that convention, either.'

"This is our recommendation to him: He may say these unreal words to his cohorts at his palace. He can perhaps find someone to believe him.

"Since the day the AKP came to power, nearly 16 thousand women have been massacred. Violence against women has hit unprecedented rates.

"According to the Justice Ministry data, 145 thousand 939 lawsuits have been filed into incidents of child abuse. Nearly 2 million women have demanded protection from the state to be able to stay alive.

"The women's unemployment rate has hit 45 percent, according to the official statistics. The number of women who are not in the labor force during the pandemic has seen a fivefold increase."

Women's struggle

Asking the President, "Is this your struggle against violence against women," Pervin Buldan said, "I am saying this quite clearly: The AKP is the biggest disaster that has ever happened to women in this country."

And no one should have any doubts about this: They will terminate the AKP-MHP rule in the first elections.

Speaking in detail about the violence faced by women within this context, Buldan said: "The power to put an end to the order of manhood is the women's power. Freedom is ours, equality is ours; dear women. İstanbul Convention is ours, the co-chairpersonship is ours.

"Our peoples are ours, our identity is ours.

"We will defend peace, equality, justice and love to the end and we will definitely make it prevail in this land. With this motto, we will wage a great struggle together and we will have a great win." (DŞ/SD)