The oppressors will not reach their goal!

The mother of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was killed in custody because “a piece of her hair was showing,” spoke for the first time one year after the murder and uttered this sentence that broke all of our hearts;

“I am sure that our silent suffering has the power to shake the heavens.”

A mother's silent suffering shook Iran so deeply that Mahsa Amini became the symbol of the liberation movement that Iranian women started by risking death.

It is such a revolution that its impact spread to the other end of the world. It became the name of a social movement that broke the mold, involving people of every race, nation, and social class, living vastly different lives, from housewives to Hollywood stars;

Jin, Jiyan, Azadi!

Many women who question the oppression they face and their lives now know the meaning of these three words by heart;

Woman, Life, Freedom!

The global impact of the Mahsa Amini protests, which turned her into the Joan of Arc of the 21st century, created a serious source of pressure on the reactionary Mullah Regime.

The sentence “No country where women are not free can ever be free,” spoken by her mother Mojgan Efekhari as she removed her own headscarf at her daughter's grave, further fueled the courage of young Iranian women. Not only women, but many people who wanted to lift their heads from the oppressive regime took to the streets for freedom, putting their own lives on the line. More than 530 people lost their lives in Iran, and many young people were executed!

Hardline President Ebrahim Raisi addressed the Iranians, threatening: “I am telling you, this lack of headscarves will definitely be put to an end.”

After Raisi's threat, the Tehran police increased headscarf inspections using street cameras. The cars of female drivers who did not comply with the headscarf ban were confiscated, and more than 4 thousand women were referred to the prosecutor's office. In addition to fines, many women were sentenced to flogging and imprisonment. In January 2024, activist Roya Heshmati was sentenced to 74 lashes for appearing without a headscarf in public, after she shared a photo of herself without a headscarf taken in a park on Instagram. Heshmati announced on her social media account that she was flogged under the supervision of a judge in a room she described as a “medieval torture chamber,” along with a photo of the torture. Saying “I did not let them think I was in pain,” Heshmati describes what she went through as follows;

“The man started hitting my shoulders, back, buttocks, and calves with determination. I lost count of the lashes and whispered: ‘In the name of woman, in the name of life, the garment of captivity has been torn. The dark night of our captivity will become the dawn, all fresh wounds will heal, all shackles will turn into axes.’”

The Iranian parliament passed a new, harsher headscarf law on the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death. It was announced that those who violate the headscarf rule would first be warned, and in case of a repeat offense, they would be sentenced to 9 years and 9 months in prison. Along with the 70-article law, the duty and authority to report people who do not comply with the dress code were also granted.

The “Headscarf and Chastity” Law, which aims to increase state sanctions against women and girls who defy the mandatory headscarf, also includes penalties heavier than those applied to drug traffickers, according to Iranian President Raisi.

Four months before the helicopter crash, Iranian President Raisi came to Ankara, and a 10-article agreement was signed between the two countries in the presence of Erdoğan and Raisi.

After the crash, one of the articles of the agreement caught my attention: “Memorandum of understanding between the government of the Republic of Turkey and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the assignment of armed flight security officers”!

There was another detail that stood out during the two leaders' meeting at the Presidential Complex. Raisi was holding a work by Hâfız-ı Şirâzî, one of the pioneers of Sufi poetry and one of the great poets of Persian literature. He opened it to a random page for President Erdoğan. “I didn't intend to perform an istikhara (divination), but as soon as I opened it, this poem caught my eye,” he said and read it aloud;

“Set your heart at ease, the oppressor will not reach his goal!”

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— ???? ???? ???????? (@MohamadAhwaze) May 19, 2024