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Turkey Women For Peace Initiative

Report on the Process of Resolution 2013

Women’s Approach to the Peace Process - Suggestions for a Lasting Peace

Summary

The United Nations emphasizes the importance of ensuring the security of women and children in processes of resolution and peace-making, and it encourages all member nations to make plans and develop programs in this area. WFPI has determined that, as of today, Kurdish people in general, and Kurdish women in particular, have very serious legal, cultural, and economic security problems in Turkey. The primary issues here are losses caused by the war, the village guard system, dispossession, the constant threat of imprisonment, rape and harrassment by security forces and the absence of any prosecution or justice. In order to ensure the security of Kurdish women what is necessary is to first and foremost decrease the number of security forces stationed in Kurdistan, put an immediate halt to the construction of military fortresses, provide education and services in the mother tongue, compensate damages suffered during the war in a manner that considers women equal beneficiaries, prosecute war crimes and uncover the truths of war. It is also necessary to develop policies to combat discrimination in Western cities.

Kurdish women have made it clear that they feel more safe and confident in terms of defending themselves both against men and against security forces in areas where women guerrillas are present. In a similar fashion, women are also able to defend themselves in many arenas in areas where the Democratic Free Women’s Movement is strong. Due all of these reasons, it is necessary to act in collaboration with the Kurdish Women’s Movement in all plans and programs attempting ensure women’s security, and to invest in policies that shall further strengthen and empower this movement.

Conclusion

This report is comprised of the Women for Peace Initiative’s findings resulting from the contacts it established and observations it made between May 2013 and January 2014. A couple serious disappointments with regards to the process of resolution were experienced while the Initiative was carrying out its activities and writing this report. While these were taking place, the women in the Initiative were worried just like all other women, they were witness to the anxieties surrounding the possibility of the dissolution of the process, and to the desire for it to work. First and foremost amongst these disappointments came the wall that is being erected between Nusaybin and Rojava, and the killing of three people during a popular protest against the destruction of the graves of guerilla fighters. What has become apparent is that Kurdish women have been proven right in all the worries and apprehensions they voiced throughout the process of resolution. The process is now at a standstill, but the hope for peace is still not lost. Desire and hope are not sufficient, however, when comes to reaching a resolution or building peace.

The “democratization package” that was publicly announced by Prime Minister Erdoğan on September 30th, 2013 and that was then sent to the Parliament on the 6th of December 2013, has still not passed into law. Moreover, this package does not contain what the state must do in order to make a resolution possible. The Constitutional Negotiation Commission declared that it put an end to its work on the 26th of December 2013. No steps have been taken to release those who are imprisoned as part of the KCK court case, or to shed light on the Roboski massacre. All requests made for the release of the Members of Parliament from the BDP citing precedents were denied. These MPs were only released after individually applying to the Constituonal Court. Neither the democratization package, nor the work conducted in terms of negotiating for a new constitution includes any real steps towards resolution. Furthermore, the regulations that have been announced are far from bringing equality, freedom and democracy to women, LGBTI individuals, members of different religious, ethnic and political groups, and to anyone who wants the resolution process to progress and peace to come to encompass the entire society.

The AKP government has increasingly continued to implement its policies that futher deepen already existing inequalities between men and women throughout the process of resolution as well. Its political approach involves attempting to build a hierarchy amongst women based on binaries such as married and single, those who have children and those who do not, those who wear the hijab and those who do not, legitimate and illegitimate, etc. Through its policies that consider women invisible and non-existent in any area other than the family, AKP has continued this invasion by the state into women’s bodies and their labour. Along with the language and politics of war, male violence against women has also continued its growth. The budget for 2014 was approved on the 20th of December 2013. The highest portion in the budget has been set aside once again for security expenses. While there are only 120 women’s shelters in Turkey, and no women’s shelters in 8 provinces whose populations exceed 100 thousand according to the Ministry of Family and Social Policy, this issue has not been taken into consideration when making budgetary regulations. Unemployment and being dispossessed from social rights continue to be overwhelming issues facing all women.

The changing agenda in Turkey constantly poses a threat to the continuation of the peace process in Turkey. The Middle East policies of the government have done anything but strengthen peace in the area, and the resolution process in Turkey. Instead, through relations the government has formed with certain groups that it has been supporting, it has served to further spark the civil war in Syria. The crisis in government that was unleashed on the 17th of December 2013 has set Turkey on a course where its future is even more unpredictable. The government has become increasingly oppressive, and this has made it impossible for there to be any transparency in the workings of those in power in Turkey, or any fair investigation into the corruption scandals that broke out. Rising government pressure in the country has also eliminated the possibility of establishing a state that is truly governed by the rule of law. In this situation, it seems ever more difficult for the peace process to acquire a legal framework.

As has been mentioned numerous times above, WFPI believes that the conditions for making the process fair, just and sustainable include forming a legal framework, and including women in the process in an equal manner, as parties, observers and negotiators. Furthermore, WFPI’s research, observations and meetings demonstrate that the peace process can only progress if a constitution with equal participation is created, the truths of war are uncovered, and security sector reforms that are human-based rather than state-based are implemented.

A decision must be made to ensure gender equality in the constitution and in all documents that shall emerge throughout the process. All effects the war has had on women, whether directly or indirectly, must be exposed. The perpetrators of violations of human rights during the war must be put on trial. And finally, a new security perspective must be institutionalized. This form of security must enable women to take full advantage of their right to life and to travel freely as well as to establish their social, political and economic freedom. All of these are also part of the UN Resolution No.1325.

The only way peace will become lasting and sustainable is if all oppressed and excluded portions of society are included in this process of re organizing the social contract. Thus, WFPI emphasizes the need for a supra-party body where women from all backgrounds come together to work for peace. WFPI also insists that this body must produce a national plan for resolution. Through its own work, the Women for Peace Initiative has been able to demonstrate time and time again that in organizations where women come together and share their own truths freely, they can indeed find common ground and work towards a resolution, while simultaneously voicing their very realistic and concrete demands.

The Women for Peace Initiative shall continue to work in order to transform the process of resolution into a peace that will ensure the equal participation of women in social life.

25 January 2014

Women for Peace Initiative

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