'Sakine Cansız is one of the most influential woman I know'

2025-01-08 09:15:49


	ISTANBUL - Stating that Sakine Cansız, who was murdered in Paris, was one of the most influential women she had ever met, "She always talked about peace and the struggle for peace. Her thoughts and struggle for women's rights and against male domination impressed me a lot," says Eren Keskin

	It has been 12 years since woman politicians Sakine Cansız (Sara), Fidan Doğan (Rojbin) and Leyla Şaylemez (Rohani) were murdered in the Kurdistan Information Office in Paris. Although the Turkish Intelligence Service (MIT) connection of the shooter Ömer Güney, who died suspiciously in prison, has been revealed, the file of the massacre, which has not been enlightened for 12 years, is still on the shelves of the French judiciary.

	 

	

	 

	Human Rights Association (IHD) Co-Chair lawyer Eren Keskin spoke about Sakine Cansız, whom she met in her office in 1991 and met during her visits to Europe, and her struggle.

	 

	Stating that Sakine Cansız, who was released from prison in 1991, visited their office, Eren Keskin said: "From the moment she entered the office, I realised that she had a different structure that affected everyone. She was indeed one of the most influential women I have ever met. From the moment she came to our office, we started chatting about almost everything with her sincere personality. In those days, many Kurdish prisoners had been released. The Turkish judiciary, which had previously released Turkish socialists, had to release Kurdish prisoners as a result of this inequality being taken to the Constitutional Court. Sakine Cansız was one of the Kurdish prisoners who were released with the decision of the Constitutional Court of that period after this inequality."

	 

	Eren Keskin said that she attended the night organised for the Kurdish prisoners released from prison together with Sakine Cansız and that Sakine Cansız talked about the injustices she had experienced in Kurdistan and that she always wanted peace. Eren Keskin stated that she met Sakine Cansız in almost all of the panels she attended in many European cities, and that she had a long conversation with her after a panel in the Netherlands, and that she told her how she struggled against male-dominated attitudes.

	 

	TOLD ABOUT 9 JANUARY

	 

	Eren Keskin stated that she was at home on 9 January 2013, the day Sakine Cansız was murdered, and that she saw the news on the news that 3 women had been murdered, "I immediately thought of calling Rojbin. I wanted to call Rojbin and find out who the dead people were. I called her but she didn't answer her phone. Rojbin was a highly educated woman who worked as my translator every time I went to Paris and knew everyone in the parliament. Those around her knew her as Rojbin. That's why I didn't know her name was Fidan. When my calls went unanswered, I became more curious. Unfortunately, I later learnt that the three women who died were Sakine, Rojbin and Leyla," she said. 

	 

	'ÖMER GÜNEY WAS DELIBERATELY CHOSEN'

	 

	Stating that the assassination in Europe was an attack against the entire Kurdish people, Eren Keskin said that Sakine Cansız was an important name for the Kurdish people and women. Eren Keskin stated that as the results of the massacre came to light, she once again saw the effects of the state's spying policy and said that Ömer Güney was deliberately chosen. Emphasising that Sakine Cansız was a woman loved by all Kurds, Eren Keskin said, "Of course, the murder of three women on the same day, in the same place was a big event. The killer Ömer Güney was a well-dressed, well-known Kurdish person who was in contact with foreign politicians there and who translated. Who had this done? It was never revealed." She reacted against the French government's failure to conduct an effective investigation into the assassination.

	 

	EVÎN GOYI

	 

	Eren Keskin reminded that 9 years after the murder of the three women, KCK Executive Council member Emine Kara (Evîn Goyi) was murdered together with Kurdish artist M. Şirin Aydın (Mîr Perwer) and Kurdish patriot Abdurrahman Kızıl in an armed attack in Paris on 23 December 2022. "This shows that the world intelligence forces are fighting with each other over the Kurdish issue. Just as they are facing each other in Rojava today. The massacre of Kurdish politicians abroad and the fact that no results are obtained from this is linked to the struggle of international intelligence forces. Unfortunately, as long as the Kurdish problem remains unsolved, these dangers will continue," Eren Keskin said. 

	 

	NAGIHAN, GÜLI·STAN, HERO, CI·HAN AND NAZIM

	 

	Reminding that the massacres were not limited to these, Eren Keskin stated that the massacres of Nagihan Akarsel, Gülistan Tara, Hero Bahadin, Cihan Bilgin and Nazım Daştan were not independent from the insolubility of the Kurdish issue. Eren Keskin said that the world sovereigns have a big share in the unresolved Kurdish issue and underlined that this is not an issue that can be explained only by Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

	 

	'THE DEMAND FOR PEACE MUST BE RAISED'

	 

	Eren Keskin said, "As the 12th anniversary of the deaths of Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez approaches, a new era is entering in terms of the Kurdish issue. If people in this geography do not want the bread on their tables to be stolen, if they want the oppression on freedom of expression and organization to end, if they want political prisoners, especially sick prisoners, to be released from prison as soon as possible, they need to support peace. It is necessary to demand peace with a loud voice. For this, we need trade unions to raise their voices the most."

	 

	MA / Esra Solin Dal