The Turkish army launched an air-and-ground-campaign in the Zap, Metina and Avashin regions of northern Iraq, aiming to hit Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in the mountainous region.
Women on Sunday organised a march from the city of Koya to the city of Erbil (Hewler) to hold a “live shield” protest in Metina against Turkey’s attacks, but the security forces of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) reportedly blocked their march.
The women who took part in the long march spoke to Jinha about the march and were reported as saying: “Only the unity of the Kurds will be able to stop these attacks”.
The women who took part in the march stated that a strong stance should be taken against the attacks of the Turkish state in order to stop these attacks. “We wanted to organise a ‘live shield’ protest to share our messages with the KDP and all political powers,” said Şehin Armanç, a woman joining the long march.
“Turkey has been conducting an invasion, targeting the South Kurdistan territories. We are organising a ‘live shield’ protest against that. We all know that such an invasion targets the fighters of the Kurdish people and the Kurdish people altogether. Such attacks force Kurdish people to migrate,” she said.
“Kurdish people can respond to such an invasion by standing together in unity: all forces should take a unified stance. Only if there is a joint stance can the attacks of the enemies of the Kurdish people fail”, stated Sara Reza, another participant of the long march.
“Turkey has occupied South Kurdistan both physically and mentally,” she added. “All reactions against that from South Kurdistan are a national reaction. That is why we should take a serious stance.”
