Peace Mothers
Encyclopedia
The Peace Mothers is a women's civil rights movement
in Turkey, which aims to promote peace between Turkey's different ethnic groups through non-violent
means.
The Peace Mothers dates from 1999. A member of the founding Assembly explained " We had come together to say that the dirty war should come to an end and that there should be peace among Turks and Kurds."
Many of the women involved have lost a close relative in the armed conflict in Southeast Anatolia. In the words of Türkiye Bozkurt " In 1999 we came together as mothers, whose
children were either in the mountains, in prisons or had
lost their lives in the war."
They are based in Istanbul and Diyarbakir.
They have been frequently in the news for their protests and court cases. In 2000, Amnesty International
reported a delegation of Peace Mothers had allegedly been tortured and ill-treated, after they travelled to neighbouring Iraq to try to mediate between the two sides in the civil conflict in the Kurdish region
in North Iraq
. The lawyer who defended them, Eren Keskin
, was later put on trial for having insulted the army after her description of the alleged torture of the Peace Mothers was published in a newspaper.
In June 2006, Peace Mother activists Muyesser Gunes and Sakine Arat were
sentenced to 1 year jail each and 600 YTL in Ankara 4th Criminal Court on a charge of praising a separatist organisation and its leader, after they had visited the General Staff headquarters on 22 August 2005 to present their case. The sentence was later commuted to 10 months.
In July 2006, twenty-four Peace Mothers aged between 40 and 75 years,
were sentenced to 12 months’ jail by the Diyarbakır 4th Criminal Court after being found guilty of voicing separatist propaganda’‘.
In August 2009 a group of Peace Mothers organised a peace march
from Diyarbakir
and Ankara
and held a sit-in
protest near the Turkish General Staff headquarters in Ankara.
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
in Turkey, which aims to promote peace between Turkey's different ethnic groups through non-violent
Nonviolence
Nonviolence has two meanings. It can refer, first, to a general philosophy of abstention from violence because of moral or religious principle It can refer to the behaviour of people using nonviolent action Nonviolence has two (closely related) meanings. (1) It can refer, first, to a general...
means.
The Peace Mothers dates from 1999. A member of the founding Assembly explained " We had come together to say that the dirty war should come to an end and that there should be peace among Turks and Kurds."
Many of the women involved have lost a close relative in the armed conflict in Southeast Anatolia. In the words of Türkiye Bozkurt " In 1999 we came together as mothers, whose
children were either in the mountains, in prisons or had
lost their lives in the war."
They are based in Istanbul and Diyarbakir.
They have been frequently in the news for their protests and court cases. In 2000, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
reported a delegation of Peace Mothers had allegedly been tortured and ill-treated, after they travelled to neighbouring Iraq to try to mediate between the two sides in the civil conflict in the Kurdish region
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr...
in North Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. The lawyer who defended them, Eren Keskin
Eren Keskin
Eren Keskin is a lawyer and human rights activist in Turkey.She is vice-president of the Turkish Human Rights Association and a former president of its Istanbul branch....
, was later put on trial for having insulted the army after her description of the alleged torture of the Peace Mothers was published in a newspaper.
In June 2006, Peace Mother activists Muyesser Gunes and Sakine Arat were
sentenced to 1 year jail each and 600 YTL in Ankara 4th Criminal Court on a charge of praising a separatist organisation and its leader, after they had visited the General Staff headquarters on 22 August 2005 to present their case. The sentence was later commuted to 10 months.
In July 2006, twenty-four Peace Mothers aged between 40 and 75 years,
were sentenced to 12 months’ jail by the Diyarbakır 4th Criminal Court after being found guilty of voicing separatist propaganda’‘.
In August 2009 a group of Peace Mothers organised a peace march
Peace walk
A peace walk or peace march, sometimes referred to as a peace pilgrimage, is a form of nonviolent action where a person or groups of people march a set distance to raise awareness of particular issues important to the walkers.-Europe:...
from Diyarbakir
Diyarbakir
Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
and Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
and held a sit-in
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...
protest near the Turkish General Staff headquarters in Ankara.