JINHA

ISTANBUL - Women held a march in Istanbul's Kadıköy neighborhood yesterday, calling on all women to join the struggle against war.

Women's Initiative for Peace called the march, which started in Kilise Square, where women had set up a stand. The women marched with pots, pans and whistles to Bahariye Avenue. One by one, marchers called out the names of the people who have lost their lives as a result of the war in Turkey so far.

"They tell us, 'be quiet; give us your men; let them kill and die for the homeland,'" said Fatma Baş. "They tell us, 'just keep on giving birth to soldiers.' They tell us, 'your job is to raise good little children for the homeland, for the nation. Just give birth and they're all ours.'

"We're dreaming of another place, a place where war is over," said Fatma. "A place where trees aren't incinerated with bombs. We're dreaming of a world where we can giggle and laugh together--Turks, Kurds, Circassians, Alevis, Sunnis, Laz, Armenians. We're dreaming of a world where we aren't always heading to funerals, where instead we head to each other to chat."

Fatma called on attendees to don ribbons against the war. After the march, the women joined the Peace Vigil set up by the Kadıköy branch of the Peace Bloc.

(ödk-sö/gc/cm)