Asya Tekin/JINHA

COLEMÊRG - The activists of the Peace Mothers and Saturday Mothers in Turkey have taken to the mountains of Kurdistan so that no more mothers feel the pain of war and loss.

As the Turkish state escalates its war in the Kurdistan region, residents continue to form "human shield" demonstrations--vigils in which residents occupy rural areas to stop clashes between soldiers and guerrillas. One of these vigils is taking place 20 kilometers from the Kurdish town of Yüksekova. Residents have taken up a vigil on the high mountain plateau of Veroz.

Now, members of the legendary women's groups the Saturday Mothers and the Peace Mothers have joined the vigil. They headed up the mountainside for September 1st--celebrated as World Peace Day in Turkey.

"For 32 years, we've been experiencing state repression," said Emine Atak, a Peace Mother. The Peace Mothers are women who have lost their loved ones to war in Kurdistan and now organize to stop it.

"This isn't our war. It's not mothers' war. This is a war of the palace," said Emine. She criticized Turkish President for ordering the children of the poor to kill each other while the sons of the rich remained in safety. She called for the mothers of Turkish soldiers to join the anti-war movement.

Every week, Xizeyca Karay comes together with her fellow Saturday Mothers to call for the state to find their loved ones who have been "disappeared" in the conflict in Turkey. Now, she says she has come to the vigil to put her body on the line and stop youth from killing one another.

"Isn't it enough of war?" asked Xizeyca. "Ask your conscience, how much more will this war go on?"

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