JINHA

ŞIRNEX - Women in the Kurdish town of Silopi have taken up vigils to guard their neighborhoods from Turkish police attacks that have killed three civilians this month.

The town of Silopi is located in Şırnak province of Northern Kurdistan (in Turkey). Locals had dug trenches in their neighborhoods in the wake of ceaseless police raids and operations that made daily life nearly impossible. Earlier this month, police launched a major attack on the Zap neighborhood. Police set homes on fire and opening fire on civilians with machine guns and sniper rifles.

In spite of the ongoing police violence, locals have come together to resist. While young men and women guard the streets at night, the women of the neighborhood are in charge of the vigil during the day.

Resident Zahide Aşula almost lost two of her siblings when police special operations teams attacked. She made it clear that she would not abandon her home or her position guarding against police violence. "The security forces came to our neighborhood with tanks and artillery, but they left just like they came," said Zahide.

Zerin is an activist with the Peace Mothers, a group of women who have lost loved ones to war and now struggle for peace in the region. She is among the women standing vigil in her street. The women often stay up all night to maintain the vigil.

"We didn't dig these trenches for fun," said Zerin. "If we didn't have these trenches, we would be under police occupation right now."

As darkness fell on Silopi, we met with one of the young women taking up her position at the barricade. She identified herself as Helin. She had never held a gun before, but after the killings of three civilians, she wanted to defend her neighborhood. Now, she stands guard with the armed women's organization the YDGK-H.

Helin noted that Turkish police had used sexual torture tactics on Kurdish women, as in the case of the guerrilla Ekin Wan--killed, tortured and exhibited by police two weeks ago. She noted that "what they did to Ekin, they did to us all." She said that women refuse to accept the killing and will get revenge.

(ma/mg/cm)