ISTANBUL - The İpek Er case is on the public agenda again, with the rape perpetrator Musa Orhan suing the actress Ezgi Mola. Başak Yeşilot from Women's Liberation, who protested for İpek and was sued, said that the government is trying to cover up the İpek Er case and said: “It must be said that violence and oppression against women has increased and intensified as a state policy in Kurdistan.”

 

İpek Er, who was detained and raped by specialist sergeant Musa Orhan in Batman last year, was driven to suicide. The perpetrator of the rape, who was arrested after intense public reactions, was released a week later. The İpek Er case came to the fore once again, after the lawsuit was filed against actress Ezgi Mola's post on August 20, 2020, on her digital media account for not arresting Musa Orhan. Within the scope of the investigation initiated, a lawsuit was filed against Ezgi, demanding two years in prison. In addition, a criminal complaint was filed against 24 artists who supported Ezgi.

 

Ezgi and those who supported her were not the first. Women's Liberation was held on 20 August last year in Taksim Square, "The male-dominated system is the murderer of İpek!" They carried out an action by carrying a written banner and were detained by torture during the action. Başak Yeşilot from Women's Liberation, who was detained while demanding justice for İpek Er, stated that they will always embrace the İpek Er case.

 

‘The state is the subject of the cycle of violence’

 

Pointing out that specialist sergeant Musa Orhan’s rape and suicide by keeping forcebly İpek Er is proof that the male state directly systematized violence against women with its own institutions, Başak said: “It must be said that violence and oppression against women has increased and intensified as a state policy in Kurdistan. This is a special tendency, the state is the subject of the cycle of violence in cases where the law enforcement directly commits harassment, rape, violence and even murder.”

 

‘Everyone who is in solidarity with İpek is being targeted’

 

Reminding that Ezgi Mola condemned this situation with a tweet, Başak reminded that a lawsuit was filed against her, and stated that the İpek Er case became the agenda again with the post and said: “The state is trying to cover up the situation. That is why it is trying to target the women who tweeted, the women who support İpek and follow this cause.” Reminding that they protested in Taksim Square for the İpek Er case and were detained, Başak said: “We were acquitted from the file. Just as we were acquitted, we will follow up on these cases and show solidarity with them. Let's give our promise here again.”

 

‘We know the male state well’

 

Pointing out that Musa Orhan should be arrested and anyone who exposes the state's special policies towards Kurdish women has been targeted, Başak said: “We know the male state, with all its institutions, it coves women's right to life and all their gains, attacks them, and tries to take them away from us. We know the male state. The fact that the state protects the killers, as we know from Nadira Kadirova, who was found dead in the house of AKP MP Şirin Ünal. But the male state also knows us. It knows us women, who ask the account of İpek Er on the street, and the women who seize the forbidden areas and ensure justice on the street.”