Political operations against our Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) continue at full speed. There has been a systematic attack on democratic politics, its constituents, and our women's institutions since June 7, 2015. The aim of this concept is to eliminate democracy and institutionalize fascism. They imagine that they can force Kurds, women and democratic institutions to relinquish their demands for democracy because of the concept of violence in force. Those who ordered this attack and those who implement this policy must realize that the women and the Kurds did not kneel before the previous attacks, and they will not kneel now.
Indeed, a broad wave of arrests and detentions against democratic politics was observed in the KCK operations in 2009 as well. Today's operation is a continuation and repetition of this. There were extensive operations at that time, too; thousands of academicians, politicians, women activists, our party’s provincial and district administrators were arrested. The Gulenists who carried out these operations against us then, are in prisons today as members and leaders of a terrorist organization. The day always comes when those who abolish democracy, those who trample on law find themselves in need of democracy and law more than anything else. Those who carry out these operations today will end up feeling this need, too.
The AKP judiciary has taken over FETÖ’s heritage. When it comes to Kurds, women and socialists, we witness them cling tight to this heritage.
The detainees in this operation are Democratic Society Congress (DTK) members, HDP provincial and district administrators, TJA and HDP Women’s Assembly members and Democratic Islam Congress members. We are faced with an especially intensive detention of women.67 TJA (Women’s Freedom Movement) activists are currently in police custody. This is a continuation and poor imitation of previous operations. About 300 of our comrades have been arrested within the last 6 days. On the night of October 9 alone, we had 158 comrades including journalists, academicians and politicians detained.
This was not a regular detention operation. People with explicitly known addresses had the doors of their homes and the institutions they work in smashed and their homes plundered. The home of our Hakkari MP Leyla Güven who has been in prison since February 2018 was raided, its door smashed. The house was raided even though she was in jail and thus clearly not at home and it was literally plundered. They are not content with holding Leyla Guven as hostage; they plundered her home as part of their policy of intimidation to instill fear in people. This is the way that they who keep talking about people’s will deal with the Kurdish people and women’s will. Smashing the door is tantamount to smashing the will.
They raided the home of Güler Özsavcı, the Co-Mayor of Hazro Municipality, they crushed her neck under their combat boots and used violence against her. Güler Özsavcı was elected through the will of the people. They put a gun to the head of the 8-year-old nephew of our Treasurer in Diyarbakır Provincial Office.
The AKP is making a show of strength on women and children. They are trying to create an empire of fear, but they should know that no one will take a single step back. Permanent Member of DTK, Hilmi Aydoğdu had a heart attack while in custody and he is now in intensive care. Those who carried out this operation are responsible for this health problem our comrade now faces.
AKP is trying to cover up its failure
Of course, we know that there is a reason for these operations, which are being advertised in the headlines as a big success. The AKP, which has driven the country into an ungovernable position and created a crisis, is trying to manipulate its failure by attacking our people and women. They are trying to take the revenge of June 24 elections through these operations and giving the start signal for the local elections. This operation which they present as a success story is in fact an indication of their failure. It is an indication of their despair saying “We appointed trustees and we could not break this will, we detained, arrested and still it was of no avail”. No matter what they do, they will remain incapable and will not be able to cover up their incapability.
The operation is the result of misogynistic policies
The other pillar of these operations is, of course, the AKP's misogynistic policies. More than half of the detainees are women. Most of our detained friends are TJA activists and they have been waging the struggle of a women emancipationist line for years. We must underline that they have made great contributions to our struggle for the Co-chair system and that it is thanks to their labor and struggle that we are here today. There is a massive attack on the women emancipationist line of struggle. The AKP has been carrying out this policy for 16 years. They are interfering how women get dressed up, where to position, how to talk. The AKP has an image of women and world in its mind extending from how women should dress, should talk, to women’s position in life, and all women who resist this are targets.
Women who have exposed AKP policies are in police custody
In line with this policy, our comrades who have exposed the AKP's policies on women are in custody. Thousands of our comrades were arrested and most of them are women. Our women mayors are still held hostage in prisons. You cannot build a patriarchal monistic fascism anywhere there exists a vibrant struggle for women’s freedom. That's why they are attacking wherever the struggle for women’s freedom is underway. We would like to express that this is an attack on women's will, on women's democratic future and women’s project for a new way of life. We will continue to resist in the face of these attacks just as our people resisted the attacks in the 90s, those fabricated operations that they slanderously called KCK operations in 2009. The patriarchal AKP mentality is doomed to defeat in the face of this justified and legitimate struggle. We condemn these attacks against TJA and all our other comrades. We demand the immediate release of our friends.
Dilan Dirayet Taşdemir
Spokeswoman, HDP Women’s Assembly
HDP Member of Parliament forAğrı
11 October 2018