In a forceful intervention, Turkish soldiers disrupted a peaceful demonstration organised by the human rights activists Peace Mothers in Silopi (Silopiya), Şırnak (Şirnex), detaining 22 people, including journalists and political figures. The protest, under the slogan “No to war, now peace,” gathered mothers from across the region, calling for an end to the ongoing conflict in Kurdish territories.
Among those detained were Mesopotamya Agency (MA) reporters Zeynep Durgut and Mahmut Altıntaş, Jin News reporter Derya Ren, and several local officials, including the Co-Mayor of Cizre (Cizîrê), Abdurrahim Durmuş, and members of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party. Eyewitness reports revealed that some detainees, including journalists, were beaten during the arrests.
After the detention and arrests, the protest continued in Başköy (Tilqebîn), just 20 kilometres from the border with Iraqi Kurdistan, with women from cities such as Diyarbakır (Amed), Van (Wan), Batman (Êlih), Mardin (Mêrdîn), Hakkari (Colemêrg), Şanlıurfa (Riha), Siirt (Sêrt), and Mersin joining the vigil. They continued their peaceful protest throughout the night despite police violence, singing songs and making traditional ululations (zılgıt).
Participants expressed their frustration at the continued violence and the state’s failure to recognise their peaceful campaign. Feyruze Kurt, who had travelled from İzmir, stated, “We are not the mothers of war; we are the mothers of peace. Yet they respond to us with tear gas and violence.”
The Peace Mothers vowed to persist in their protests, emphasising that they would not abandon their call for an end to the bloodshed, even after being attacked by the military. Tenzile Agatay from Mardin said, “Despite their attacks, we will not give up. Peace is the only path to end the suffering of both sides.”
As protests continued, the crackdown intensified, with more arrests and injuries reported. One of the detainees, DEM Party Başköy Co-Chair Lezgin Kösen, sustained broken ribs during the military’s intervention and is currently undergoing treatment in Şırnak State Hospital.
Despite the escalating violence and arrests, the Peace Mothers have vowed to continue their sit-in outside the DEM Party building in Başköy, where they demand a peaceful resolution to the conflict and an end to the government’s oppressive policies.
The Peace Mothers movement emerged after the 1980 military coup d’etat in Turkey, with a group of women giving voice to their relatives who had been forcibly disappeared by the state, or imprisoned and tortured in the Diyarbakır Military Prison, housing predominantly Kurdish detainees. The Peace Mothers Initiative was later formed in 1996. During their struggle, the Peace Mothers have been subjected to violence, having been detained, physically assaulted, imprisoned and killed over the years.
