Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has appealed to women, especially mothers, to lend their support to the resolution of Turkey’s Kurdish issue, proclaiming that women’s input was necessary for the eventual success of the process.
At a March 6 assembly of female Turkish Metal Union workers, Erdoğan said the government no longer wanted to see mothers fearfully waiting for the return of their sons from mandatory military service, nor did they want to see mothers worried about their sons trapped within the outlawedKurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
"If all the women of this country say ‘stop’ to terror, then terror will end," he said, appealing to women to pray the resolution process is a success.
"If all the women of this country say ‘[let’s put an] end to mourning for [our] children,’ then this grave news will be over. If mothers hold on to their children and take back their children from the hands of terror, then believe me, this bloodshed and these tears will end. No country where mothers cry and women suffer can be a happy and prosperous country. Believe me, Turkey will turn into a quite different place if we stop the tears of those mothers and women," he said.
Since the PKK took up arms against the state in 1984, more than 40,000 people have been killed in conflict. This figure includes civilians, national security forces, PKK members and village guards operating in towns and villages in eastern and southeastern Turkey where PKKfighters are most active.
"We have opened a blank page. We have ended discrimination, refusal, denial and assimilation. We have taken hundreds of steps in order to compensate for wrongdoings made in the past," Erdoğan said. The prime minister indicated that the process, which aims to put an end to ongoing conflict between security forces and the PKK, is like a "tabula rasa" for the country.
"Even if we do not have anybody next to us, we will continue this struggle for [the nation’s] mothers. We will continue this effort for all women, all mothers, all spouses and all children despite provocations, sabotage and obstacles," he said.
Bütün xəbərlər Facebook səhifəmizdə
USD
EUR
GBP
RUB