JINHA

NEWS CENTER – The Peace Mothers Parliament, a group of mothers promoting peace in Turkey and Kurdistan, held simultaneously protests against the Internal Security Law in cities across Northern Kurdistan. The mothers wore their traditional white scarves over their faces in protest to new articles that make covering one's face illegal.

The Internal Security Law has drawn widespread protest for articles that empower police to conduct searches without a court order, use lethal force more easily and arrest people for offenses like wearing traditional regional clothes and carrying pepper spray for self-defense. Peace Mothers are calling for the immediate withdrawal of the law, saying it opens the way to targets democracy activists, diverse belief systems and women in particular.

"They put out this law to kill our children," said Peace Mother PerihanAltuğ, speaking at the march in Nisêbîn (Nusaybin in Turkish).

In Amed (Diyarbakır), Peace Mothers marched from the Democractic Societies Congress (DTK) building to the Diyarbakır governor's building, shouting Kurdish slogans including "long live mothers' resistance." When police attempted to block the march, mothers resisted. "We're marching for peace, what are you doing?" asked one mother.

"As Kurdish women and as mothers, we won't accept these anti-democratic laws designed to crush our hopes for peace," said RaifeÖzbek, a Peace Mothers Parliament member, speaking in front of the AZC Building in spite of the police blockade.

In Pirsûs (Suruç), the border town across from Kobanê in the province of Riha (Urfa), mothers encountered aggressive reactions from men working at the local governorate, where they attempted to hold an action. Encountering police resistance, the mothers moved on to Hergele Square. The police attempted to photograph the covered faces of the women on their cell phones, resulting in tension when the local co-mayor ZuhalEkmez reacted.

Mothers in Mêrdin(Mardin) drew Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) representatives, among others, to a march on the governorate. Nisêbînmothers marched on the local courthouse with slogans calling for peace and praising PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan. In Êlih, HDP provincial co-chair Selma Kaya decried the law as repressive and culturally assimilationist. In Viranşehir, mothers met outside the DBP building for a march against the law.

(ekip/zd/mg/cm)