Turkish Women against Militarism

By Peace Media Service.
19 January, 1995

The Peace Media Service <peacemedia@gn.apc.org> is an Ankara Turkish feminist group.

This article comes from HRNet. For more information write to Debra Guzman at DEBRA@OLN.comlink.apc.org.

A group of Turkish feminists in Ankara have formed "The Blue Stocking Women's Collective" both in response to increasing acts of violence against women and to oppose war and the militarization of society.

"Hundreds of women had to move from their hometowns to the big cities and are living under very hard conditions with their children," said a statement released by the group in January. "Using violence against others has become very legitimate. Women and children are suffering from it the most, in both sides."

The group hopes to cooperate with other associations to develop resistance against war with other groups. They note, "We have been working on a peace campaign for the last three months."

A manifesto published by the group declares that they "reject all wars in the world and want the war which prevails in our country to stop immediately. While the war causes massive deaths for both parties, it develops a mentality intolerant to the differences in other regions which are not directly involved. Every man and woman who remains silent in the face of this situation has a responsibility in the persistence of the war, willingly or unwillingly.... We are not interested in pleasing any political party or institution. Our sole aim is to assure that the war and its effects stop immediately. We don't want to kill and to be killed anymore; and we say that, 'It is now time to plant a Peace Tree'."

Fahrunnisa Ekren
Adakale Sokak
22/22 Kizilay
Ankara, Turkey
tel +312-435: 6186 [Peace News]