Marta Sömek 

 

ISTANBUL - Speaking about Deniz Poyraz who was murdered in Izmir and the abolition of the Istanbul Convention, the artists said: ‘’We will no longer bow our heads. We will neither give up on the Istanbul Convention nor we will bow down to the murder of Deniz.’’

 

Deniz Poyraz was killed in the attack carried out by the fascist Onur Gencer on the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) İzmir Provincial Organization on 17 July. While the reactions regarding the protection of the perpetrator Onur Gencer by the police continue, on the other hand, women are in the field for the Istanbul Convention, which will be repealed on July 1. Artists Deniz Tekin and Rewşan Çeliker spoke to our agency about the murder of Deniz and the abolition of the Istanbul Convention.

 

‘We don’t want to hear the news of another woman’s murder’

 

Artist Deniz Tekin said that although the Istanbul Convention is an important, protective mechanism and a convention on the implementation of necessary sanctions within the scope of effective measures, it would be withdrawn by President Tayyip Erdoğan at midnight and then abolished on July 1, continued: ‘’It was not implemented properly anyway, and the fact that it will be abolished means that many women and individuals are victims.’’ Emphasizing that women will become “victim” with the abolition of the convention, Deniz noted that every murdered woman is unique and irreplaceable. Deniz said: ‘’We are talking about numbers, graphs and statistics about every woman, but this is the government's job. We don't want to hear the news of another woman's murder.’’

 

‘There needs to be resistance beyond condemnation’

 

Pointing out that the main motivations of the murder of Deniz and the attack against the HDP are reflected differently and that there should be resistance rather than condemnation, Deniz said: ‘’Even though we can define it as an attack on the democratic representation of the Kurdish people, this is a murder of a woman, a murder of a comrade, and therefore it is wrong in many ways.’’

 

‘Women’s struggle against the attacks of the state and men will continue’

 

Rewşan Çeliker, who said, ‘’As an artist, I can say that dirty games are played’’ and that the struggle of women has been going on for a long time against the attacks of both the state and men. Stating that people of all languages and colors took to the streets, demonstrations and rallies for equality and women’s freedom, Rewşan emphasized that women will always raise their voices for human rights, democracy and a better life.

‘We will not bow our heads’

 

‘’We don’t want to die anymore and we don’t want to be a bite to anyone’s mouth,’’ Rewşan said and continued: ‘’We don't want to be involved in these dirty games. We want to leave a dignified, beautiful life and a dignified world for our children. How far will women bow their heads? We will no longer bow our heads.’’

 

‘We will continue to raise our voice’

 

Emphasizing that women will not give up on the Istanbul Convention, Rewşan said: ‘’A week ago, delal (beautiful) Deniz was murdered, a family's heart was burned. A family is gone. There is nothing we can do.’’ Noting that women can only raise their voices against the femicides and do nothing else, Rewşan said that thousands of women will continue to raise their voices against the attacks of the state and men in the actions organized for Deniz. Finally, Rewşan stated: ‘’We will neither bow down to the attacks nor give up on the Istanbul Convention.’’