Beth Nahrain Women’s Union condemns attempts to halt We Will Stop Femicide Platform in Turkey

ISTANBUL — The Beth Nahrain Women’s Union (Huyodo d’Neshe d’Bethnahrin, HNB) has condemned the Istanbul Attorney General’s statement calling for the closure of women’s rights organization We Will Stop Femicide Platform.

The HNB Board of Directors voiced its disapproval of the Attorney General’s statement and the closure of the headquarters of the Platform in a public statement.

“Today our Syriac people are spread all over the world, and the Syriac woman notes and sees the violence practiced by men and the pain it causes to them,” read the HNB statement.

The full text of the HNB statement reads as follows:

“Since ancient times, men have dominated, ruled, and practiced violence against women all over the world. Man has been the one with power and woman has become his colony.

For thousands of years, women have been damaged. Despite our existence in the 21st Century, a time of unprecedented freedom and democracy, women continue to suffer all forms of physical violence. Women suffer at the hands of those who perpetrate violence and the killing of women. The lawsuit brought to close the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, which was founded in 2010, is an example of the continued oppression of women.

Today our Syriac people are spread all over the world, and the Syriac woman notices and sees the violence and pain men inflicted on them.

We, the Beth Nahrain Women’s Union,  from 2000 until today, have been trying to be the voice of Syriac women who have been neglected by a social and political system dominated by men.

We condemn such an attack on a platform that aims to put an end to the killing of women, as the attack targets not only this institution, but all women.

The HNB condemns the patriarchal model and its attempt to bully and marginalize women and obliterate their presence in public life. Women will not bow their heads and will not kneel.

In the name of Syriac women, we support women’s education, underscore the immense determination and will of women, and denounce all forms of violence against them.”