JINHA

AMED – Women have started a campaign for the freedom of Kurdish woman peace activist Aysel Doğan, currently imprisoned by the Turkish state in spite of her late-state ovarian cancer.

Aysel Doğan came to Turkey from Europe in 1999 as part of a Peace Group on the call of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in 1999. She was arrested in the scope of the KCK operation against Kurdish political and civil society groups and jailed in a Diyarbakır prison. Last week, the peace activist was diagnosed with third-stage ovarian cancer after a long wait to go to a hospital in Ankara. After a recent operation to remove tumors, doctors say Aysel needs immediate chemotherapy treatment.

A campaign for Aysel’s release sprung up over the weekend, with a social media campaign (ayseldoganaozgurluk.com and Twitter hashtag #AyselDoganaOzgurluk) demanding her immediate release.

In Aysel’s native city of Dersim yesterday, a group gathered at Freedom Square to demand Aysel’s release. The Human Rights Association (İHD) and local Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) candidates joined the demonstration.

“If they have a sincere approach, now is the time to take the hand of peace that Aysel Doğan has extended,” said Gürbüz Solmaz, of the Human Rights Association. “Aysel Doğan needs to be released immediately.”

Aysel, born in 1953 in Dersim province, has been jailed at different times over the course of her life for a total of 17 years. Aysel, who graduated from Gazi University in physical education, was first jailed in the 1980 coup in Turkey. Over the two years of her imprisonment during the years of military rule, she never saw a courtroom.

Aysel again became a state target in 1990, when state terror in the Kurdish region escalated. Aysel, arrested in Dersim, was jailed for another 11 months in 1990-1991. As soon as she was released, she became an independent Parliamentary candidate from Dersim in the 1991 elections. Despite gathering the most votes in the election, she was prevented from entering the Parliament. After this and other escalating state harassment, Aysel sought refugee status in Europe. She finally returned to her country in 1999 as part of a Peace Group called for by Abdullah Öcalan to resolve the Kurdish conflict. Aysel has been jailed for the last four years.

(fk/cm)