MERSİN - Speaking at the commemoration held at the grave of Leyla Şaylemez, "We will never give up our women's libertarian paradigm and existence," says DEM Party MP Dilan Kunt Ayan. 

 

Leyla Şaylemez, who was murdered on 9 January 2013 in Paris was commemorated at her grave in Mersin. Representatives of women's organizations, political parties and non-governmental organizations attended the commemoration held on the 12th anniversary of the massacre. During the march before the statement, slogans such as "Martyr will not die" and "Jin, jiyan, azadî (Woman, life, freedom)" were frequently chanted. Afterwards, the crowd came to Şaylemez's grave and observed a moment of silence in memory of Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and all women who lost their lives in the Kurdish women's struggle.

 

DEM Party MP Dilan Kunt Ayan commemorated those who lost their lives in the Paris Massacre and emphasized that it was Ömer Güney who pulled the trigger, but that they knew well the power behind him and that power was "misogynist". Stating that 3 Kurdish women were massacred in 2013 during the "solution process", Dilan Kunt Ayan said, "HDP was having a meeting at that time where there was hope for peace. That was the period when the Dolmabahçe agreement was signed. It was the time when the Kurdish people were closest to peace, when they were knitting the hope for peace the most. But what happened? Once again, the Kurdish people responded to the understandings that wanted to destroy this with this massacre. No matter what happens, we will not give up even one step from the Kurdish people's struggle for peace, for freedom, for the Kurdish people to say peace, for the Kurdish mothers to say freedom, for the Kurdish people to fight until the last drop. They should know this very well."

 

Dilan Kunt Ayan reacted against the government's attacks on North and East Syria and the refusal to hand over the bodies of journalists Cihan Bilgin and Nazım Daştan to their families. Referring to the İmralı talks, Dilan Kunt Ayan said, "We invite all authorities to listen to this struggle of the Kurdish people who are closest to peace. We can build peace together. We can build brotherhood together. The Kurdish people are ready for this. Kurdish mothers are ready and we are once again calling out from Leyla's grave that we will continue our struggle with all our strength."

 

The commemoration ended with the placing of carnations on Leyla Şaylemez's grave.