MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

 Amed (Diyarbakır)- The Free Women’s Movement (Kurdish: Tevgera Jinên Azad-TJA) released a statement on the upcoming local elections that will be held in Northern Kurdistan and Turkey on March 31, 2024. The statement emphasized the importance of democracy, ecology and women’s freedom in local governments.

NuJINHA spoke to the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) co-mayoral candidates for Rezan (Bağlar) and Bajare Nû (Yenişehir) districts of Amed (Diyarbakır) about their election campaigns.

‘We will promote the system of co-presidency’

“We will keep struggling to achieve freedom in all facets of life against capitalist modernity,” said Safiye Akdağ, DEM Party’s co-mayoral candidate for Yenişehir. “As women, we will promote the system of co-presidency to participate in all decision-making progresses.”

‘Municipalities that belong to the people will be given back to the people’

Speaking about her election campaign, she said, “We have been visiting villages and artisans for days to listen to their demands. As women co-mayoral candidates, we focus on our projects that we will put into practice after the elections. When we will be elected, we will carry out cultural and social activities for women. We will provide services to our people to meet their demands. Municipalities that belong to the people will be given back to the people again.”

‘The earthquakes displaced many people in Bağlar’

After 2014 and 2019 local elections, the Turkish government removed elected Kurdish mayors from office and appointed trustees. In her speech, Leyla Ayaz, DEM Party’s co-mayoral candidate for Bağlar, recalled that the municipalities in Kurdish cities have been run by unelected mayors for years. “We will work day and night to put an end to this usurpation.” Pointing out that Rezan (Bağlar) district is one of the important districts of Amed, Leyla Ayaz said:

“It is one of the districts that have a high voter turnout. The February 6 earthquakes displaced many people in the district. In addition to displacement, it is one of the districts where violence against women is on rise. Before the appointment of trustees, many activities were carried out for women and children in the district. Women and children had centers to become socialized. All these centers were closed down by the appointed municipalities.”

‘We will organize our election campaigns with women’

Leyla Ayaz told us that she would pursue policies against poverty and drug use if she won the election. “We will carry out activities especially for women in the district. The first thing that we will do is to reopen the women’s centers. We will open centers to fight drug use. We will expose all the corruption and start a social construction.”