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JINHA

ŞIRNEX - As the Turkish state increasingly resorts to violence against women and children in Kurdistan, women have started standing vigil in the streets of the Kurdish town of Cizre until the peace they want comes.

The town of Cizre is located in Şırnak province. There, 15 women, among them neighborhood mothers, have taken a three-day weapons training. The women have now taken command of the streets and are standing vigil against police attacks. They say they have been struggling for peace for years, but that state terror has left them no option but to take up arms.

40-year-old Hediye stands guard overnight in the streets of Cizre. She said that she is a mother of three.

"We're mothers, and they're shooting our children. Isn't this cruelty? We can't sleep in peace in our own neighborhood," said Hediye. "We stand watch until morning with our weapons. No one is helping us, so we're forced to stand guard, women and children alike." Hediye said that she had never used a gun before now.

"The state calls our children 'terrorists' when they play in the streets and kills them. We don't have any other option than arming ourselves," she said.

Beritan, another of the women standing guard, issued a call to women around the world. She asked them to do something to stop the war and to support women as they did in Rojava. She explained that Cizre women aimed to turn themselves into shields to protect children from police. "Only we can stop this blood," said Beritan.

55-year-old Zeynep is a mother of five. Zeynep had been displaced by Turkish state violence, like many in the town.

"But we still don't want war. We don't want guerrillas or soldiers to die," she said. "We are against war until the very end, but we've been forced to legitimately defend ourselves." She said that the person behind the deaths of Cizre's children and Turkish soldiers was the same: President Erdoğan.

"We have armed ourselves at this point. The police can't come to our neighborhoods. If they do come, either they kill us or we kill them," said Zeynep.

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