A free and happy Turkey can be built with the power of women, who make up half the country's population

Article 1 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights begins with this sentence: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Violence is a violation of human rights.

We women make up half of Turkey's population, yet we cannot protect our right to life.

This year, 394 of our sisters were murdered. This is the highest number recorded in the history of Turkey to date. The sisters we could not save from “preventable death” were not just dry statistics. Each one had a name, a family, hopes, dreams for the future, and a long life ahead of them.

I have been a journalist for 30 years. For 20 years, I have been fighting for gender equality, which is a human right. Over the last 10 years, in addition to the exponential increase in violence against women, the rise in suspicious deaths and the normalization of violence break our hearts. Male violence does not stop because the law that protects women (Law No. 6284 on the Protection of Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women) is not being implemented effectively.

There was only one year when murders of women decreased. 2012!

It was the year the Istanbul Convention was adopted.

The primary goal of the ISTANBUL CONVENTION was to create a society that makes it difficult for violence to emerge.

Create such a society that violence does not occur.

Take precautions from the start.

Just as a vaccine was developed against COVID, the vaccine developed against violence against women is the “Istanbul Convention.” And the active ingredient of that vaccine was equality!

Gender equality!

THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION told signatory countries to “prevent violence, protect women, conduct effective prosecutions, and implement policies that empower women.”

Unfortunately, Turkey, the first signatory of the Istanbul Convention, decided to withdraw from it. A closure lawsuit was filed against the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, which fights in the field with volunteer lawyers to stop femicides, on the grounds that it engaged in activities contrary to morality. History must record these; they must not be forgotten.

The We Will Stop Femicide Platform won the lawsuit filed against it. The testimonies of the families of those murdered were etched into the case files.

After this case, many young women became volunteers for this non-governmental organization.

Today, as women of all ages and all social classes, we are worried about our safety and our right to life.

Unfortunately, every day, a woman's right to life is taken away by the man closest to her.

Today, while we should be talking about issues like equal representation, economic freedom, and equal pay for equal work, it is very painful to be talking about preventable deaths and women's right to life.

Between 2008 and 2025, 5,166 women were murdered by men.

The Century of Turkey will go down in history as a period when murders of women increased more than ever before.

We must all take action as women to ensure that no new murders are committed, that women are not killed off like sparrows, and that all forms of violence against women and children come to an end.

The Women's March in Beyoğlu held on the night of March 8 is a breath of fresh air for all women in the country; it is a source of inspiration. Women, the guardians of secularism, said, “We also have power, we will never walk alone,” and gave hope to all their sisters in Turkey.

We say, enough is enough!

On the 102nd anniversary of the founding of our Republic, we say that in order to put an end to all these inequalities, there is a need to build a fair system based on gender equality.

Gender equality must first be achieved in parliament. Women should prepare to fill half of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM).

Rights are not given, they are taken! Unless women are represented in equal numbers in parliament, violence in Turkey will not end.

A person's wings are their efforts. The main opposition party, in particular, and all opposition parties must open their doors to women who will make this effort.

A free and happy Turkey can be built with the power of women, who make up half the country's population.

The most fundamental principle that distinguishes the Republic of Turkey from all other countries in the Middle East is secularism.

Secularism is the guarantee of women's rights. That is why women are the guardians of secularism!

A happy and free Turkey can only be built together with women who are the “guardians of secularism”!