Peace Desk Wasnt Understood
"The Peace Desk was a concrete demonstration against the continuation of the Kurdish problem," said Arpat.
"We demanded that terms like 'terror,' 'terrorist,' and 'historic revenge,' are discussed once again. This is what the Peace Desk symbolized."
According to Arpat the women's demonstration was willfully distorted and attributed to various parties and groups.
Although they are being charged with violating Turkey's assembly and demonstration laws, Arpat said they were being accused with "demonstrating within the framework of KADEK's general amnesty campaign."
"However, we were trying to say that calls from either side would not be of use," said Arpat.
Arpat reminded the fact that they had opened a case because of the violence they went through in Bingol but that the judiciary decided to abate the action. Arpat said they would challenge the decision.
Arpat said they were not allowed to eat, drink water or use the bathroom during the 16 hours they were held under detention. They were faced with violence after being released at around 4 a.m., according to Arpat.
Report to the German government
Arpat said Britta Wente and Ruth Kegel from the Stuttgart Women's Shelter Network, and Erika Drees, Inge Alversleben and Almut Wetzste from the Doctor's Organization Against Nuclear War, would in a report, deliver their observations to the German government. They will also make a public statement in a news conference, Arpat said.
91 defendants from 10 cities
Women who came to Bingol on June 16 to set up a "Peace Desk" were beaten up by police with truncheons and detained. They were kept under detention for 16 hours and then released. They now face trial for violating Turkey's assembly and demonstration laws.
The first hearing of the trial was held at a Bingol court last Friday. Ninety-one defendant women from the cities of Adana, Mersin, Ankara, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Dersim, Mus, Istanbul, Van and Bitlis, attended the hearing.
The women coming from Diyarbakir were kept waiting at the Genc border for an hour and thus were late for the hearing.
Riot police stood guard on Bingol's main streets and in front of the Bingol courthouse during the hearing. Snipers waited on the roofs of the buildings close to the courthouse.
The defendant women wanted to enter the hearing with white carnations and white muslins. They were not allowed to bring the carnations into the hearing. The 20-armed police officers that attended the hearing were sent out due to the warning of the defendant lawyers. The defendant lawyers demanded action against the armed police officers that attended the hearing, but their demand was rejected. (BB/EA/NM)