DİYARBAKIR - Announcing the final declaration of the Lausanne workshop in Amed, TJA said: "Lausanne is not legitimate in the eyes of the peoples and should be canceled. We reiterate once again the necessity of a democratic confederal system for the building of a democratic nation."

 

The final declaration of the "Women Discuss Lausanne on its 100th Anniversary" workshop held by the Free Women's Movement (TJA) on July 16 has been announced. In the final declaration, it was emphasized that the Treaty of Lausanne, which was signed on July 24, 1923, brought genocide, assimilation, forced migration and related massacres to the peoples living in the Middle East. In the declaration, which was called "a product of the mind of men, which went down in history as a sign of the Turkish nation-state rather than a 'Peace' treaty and tried to establish its own existence through the destruction of different cultures and identities," the declaration said, "While Lausanne became the founding document of the Republic of Turkey, it turned into a massacre for those who did not have a Turkish and Sunni identity. It was stated in this historical Treaty that the ancient peoples of this geography, Kurds, Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Jews, Yazidis and many other identities, were asked to face a historical extinction with the violent methods of nation-state policies.

 

'WOMEN WERE MOST AFFECTED'

 

In the workshop, it was pointed out that the main target of the assimilation policies of the state after Lausanne was girls and women, and the desire to end the culture carried by women was the main method of social homogenization policies.

 

The declaration, which noted that Lausanne was not a "peace" Treaty, was the beginning of systematic extermination policies against minority peoples, included the following statements: "As soon as the Turkish State returned from Lausanne, the first thing to do was to change the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, and by declaring everyone living in this geography as "Turks", systematic assimilation policies were started. In this process, minority peoples were subjected to mass atrocities, even the rights granted to minorities in Lausanne and signed by the Turkish delegation were not implemented, and the only goal was to create a homogeneous nation-state. All these steps were registered not in spite of the West, but with its approval."

 

PEOPLE FIGHTED AGAINST OPPRESSION

 

The first steps taken by the Turkish delegation, who deceitfully said that "Kurds are not demanding anything" in Lausanne, claiming that "Kurds are one and the same," after returning to the country, were the singleist 1924 Constitution, the Orient Reform Plan, Settlement Policies, martial law practices, and the policies of the massacre from Sheikh Said to Dersim. The genocide steps followed a heavy assimilation and cultural destruction policies for all peoples and faiths. The Armenian people were exiled, excluded, and even in their own schools, they wanted to be assimilated. The Syriac people were not recognized even in Lausanne, and they were not allowed to maintain their right to any identity or culture. As another community whose name was not even mentioned in Lausanne, Alevis continued to be massacred from Koçgiri to Dersim, from Çorum to Maraş and Sivas, and their beliefs were tried to be assimilated according to the official ideology of the state. Likewise, the Ezidi people were massacred by edicts because of their beliefs and identities; however, during these processes, oppressed peoples, especially women, did not bow down and struggled against this oppression in every field.

 

FREE LIFE IS POSSIBLE WITH THE DEMOCRATIC NATION PROJECT

 

Bringing together the social truth of the Kurdish people, which was shattered in Lausanne, and ensuring their national unity will be one of the most fundamental steps that will nullify this international conspiracy; however, the way for peoples to live together equally and freely will only be possible in a democratic nation. As the only government that has achieved this, steps must be taken to recognize the status of Rojava, to solve the Kurdish problem through democratic means, and to allow minority beliefs and cultures to live freely in this geography.

 

A DEMOCRATIC CONFEDERAL SYSTEM IS NEEDED

 

Lausanne is not legitimate in the eyes of the people and should be cancelled. Instead, there is a need more than ever for a new social contract that treats all differences and identities equally. We are women, the main force that will organize the way of living together by protecting our culture, language and differences, in the face of the male mind that wants to include minorities in the Turkish state with the policy of 'divide-conquer'. Even though we, women, are trying to be victimized by Lausanne, today, as a resisting identity, we are the most basic democratic force standing against this convention. '21 in this geography. With our belief that the 21st century will be the women's century, we once again reiterate the necessity of a democratic confederal system for the construction of a democratic nation."