DİYARBAKIR - The project called TitulaArts, carried out in partnership with GÖÇ-DER and Middle East Cinema Academy Association, continues with trainings.

 

Millions of people have been displaced in recent years due to the civil wars waged by the imperialist powers in the Middle East. Especially in recent years, Turkey is the first stop of millions of people who turn to European countries due to the conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan. Refugees, used by the AKP-MHP government as a trump card against European countries, are exposed to many discriminations in Turkey, especially racist attacks. Mesopotamia Migration Monitoring and Research Association (GÖÇ-DER), which has been opened for a year, continues its studies on migration and refugee issues in the provinces of the region. In partnership with the Middle East Cinema Academy Association (OSAD), the association implemented the project they named TitulaArts with the support of two non-governmental organizations from Barcelona, “CIEMEN” and “CREART”. In the project, it is aimed to knit a common life with the education to be given to Kurds and Arabs who immigrated from Syria to Turkey and to enable them to adapt.

 

Hediye Güneş, who is in the administration of Göç-Der, speaking to our agency on the subject, said that they have prepared a new project especially for women and children who migrated to Diyarbakır and its surroundings.

 

Lessons are given in Kurdish and Arabic

 

Noting that they give lectures on women’s rights and gender so that women and children can adapt to life, Hediye said: ‘’Our trainings continue for two months, consisting of two groups, Kurdish and Arabic. In these trainings, we give lectures on women’s rights and gender, inform women about their rights and tell them what to do. In the field of health, we talk about the woman's awareness of her own body and what issues she should pay attention to in terms of health. For children, we provide training for three months, by making two groups in Kurdish and Arabic. In these trainings, we create areas where they can engage in art, as well as children and health rights. For this, we provide painting, music, folklore and theater trainings.’’

 

‘Kurds most forced to migrate in Turkey’

 

Expressing that they established trust by establishing bonds with women and children during the training, and that they explained their experiences more easily thanks to this, Hediye also shared that they will publish the stories women tell into a book. Expressing that the Kurds are among the people who had to migrate the most since the 80s and 90s in Turkey, Hediye said: ‘’We want to carry out studies on these as well. At the same time, we have the goal of creating a library with the books we have prepared and written on immigration. If the people who come here want to work on migration and refugees, we want to show them our reports and books. In the same way, we try to help children, especially children from Syria, to overcome their traumas more easily by telling us about the tragic events they experienced. We aim to erase subconscious events and enable them to adapt to life more easily with the trainings we provide in the fields of music, painting, theater and art.’’

 

‘We want to return to our country’

 

Hediye noted that the women talked about the difficulties they faced in Turkey, the insults and violence they were subjected to, and that what they experienced damaged their psychology. Expressing that the women told that they do not trust any institution or association, Hediye said: ‘’That is why they do not go to the institutions and apply to ‘help us’. Women and children are attacked in various parts of Turkey. When these events happen, we can see that their psychology is broken. Because they are afraid that ‘what happens to them will happen to us too’. We can see that women cannot position themselves neither in a place nor in a country. They are homeless, propertyless and unable to bond. They say ‘I live here today, but I do not know where I will be tomorrow. It is not clear what will happen to me and who will attack me, and there is no one to protect me and help me. At most, they will tell me that don’t talk or go to your country. We do not want to go back to where we came from because of the bad things that happened to us.’ Most of them say, ‘Europe should open its doors to us, we do not want to stay here either’.’’

 

‘They are worried about taking their kids out’

 

At the same time, Hediye said that refugee and migrant children are exposed to abuse and violence the most, and contineud: ‘’When we talk about children’s rights, we see that there is a great abuse in the incidents children tell. One of the biggest abuses we have seen is when children play on the streets, they are subjected to violence and they are fired. Children express that they are afraid to go out for this reason. Likewise, mothers are worried about their children in this regard and do not allow their children to go out. They say, ‘Because when our children come out, it is not clear what will happen to them’. They say ‘When we try to protect our children, we are told you are not from here, go to your country.’ They report that they have encountered such reactions.’’

 

At the end of the trainings held within the scope of TitulaArts, entertainments will be organized and the reports of the training and projects will be announced.