Yazidi and Arab women march to protest isolation on Imralı prison

Last evening, the Yazidi Free Women’s Movement (Tevgera Azadiya Jinên Êzîdî-TAJÊ) held a march from Shengal’s Xelef village to Barê village with the participation of hundreds of Yazidi and Arab women to protest the isolation imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned since February 1999 in İmralı Prison. After the march, Riham Hico, a coordinating member of TAJÊ, made a speech.

“His freedom is our freedom”

“We, as the women of Shengal, want to say that we started to get to know ourselves after learning the ideology of leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan) and that is how we got our freedom. His freedom is our freedom. We will never be free until he has his physical freedom. We promise to strengthen our struggle and resistance,” Riham Hico said in her speech.

Activist Emşê Korkorkî, one of the women attended the march, demanded the end of the policies of torture and isolation in Turkey’s prisons. “We, as the women of Shengal, we send our greetings from Shengal to İmralı. Leader Apo made great efforts for Yazidi women,” she told NuJINHA.

“We will not accept slavery”

Another woman attending the march, Filuz Şengali said, “We never accepted slavery and we will not accept. Leader Apo gave us the key to protect ourselves from slavery. He has the key for freedom of all people and the solution. The aim of the isolation is to silence him.”