Rozerin Gültekin

 

ISTANBUL - Reacting to the ban on caesarean section, Güneş Akşahin, representative of the Federation of Young Feminists, said: ‘It is a hypocritical policy that is not interested in how children will live equally, but how women are born.’ Esin İzel Uysal, representative of KCDP, emphasised that the solution lies in organising and struggling together.

 

New regulations were introduced by the Ministry of Health as part of the ‘Healthy Turkey Century’ programme. With these regulations, medical centres wishing to provide delivery services were required to establish a delivery unit. However, birth units will not be allowed in centres that do not have an operating theatre. Within the scope of the regulation on caesarean sections, under the title of ‘Ban on Planned Caesarean Section’, it was stated that caesarean sections will not be allowed unless a medical justification is provided. Women's protests and reactions against this regulation continue in every field. Women express at every opportunity that they will not allow interference in their lives and that they will increase their struggle.

 

Young Feminists Federation representative Güneş Akşahin and KCDP representative Esin İzel Uysal spoke about the regulation.

 

‘They are interested in how children are born, not how they can live equally’

 

Güneş Akşahin, representative of the Federation of Young Feminists, said that the government has been pursuing family-oriented policies for years, declaring 2025 as the year of the family, and that ‘normal’ birth has been propagated by the public apparatus, and drew attention to the fact that these are policies that are the continuation of each other. Güneş Akşahin said, ‘Turkey is a country where child deaths and murders of children from different fields are very high. Unfortunately, it is a country where child abuse is very high and is not publicly prevented by the political power. Children are mostly abused by the men in their families, the men closest to them. In this country, the government does not protect newborn babies. It does not protect them when they die in work accidents. It is not interested in how children who come to life will live equally, how public opportunities will be offered to those children, but it is interested in how women are born. This is a blatantly hypocritical policy. There are young feminists who say ‘family does not bind us in life’ against family-oriented policies that impose marriage and reinforce gender roles. We will not allow this when the majority of the society is against them.’

 

‘Women are defending a life where they make their own decisions’

 

Güneş Akşahin said that with the growth of the women's liberation struggle, women are defending gender equality in life as a subject and this disturbs the government, "Young generations do not think that the family is so sacred as the government tells us. They do not think that marriage is something very critical and very important, something that constitutes the basis of our lives. They advocate a life that is more free, equal and where they themselves make all the decisions about their lives. These are contrary to the thinking of a government that defends family structures where gender inequality exists. Because it wants a system where women are subjected to inequality, seen as second class citizens, and where women have to accept all the decisions of men together with the system of patriarchy. The government talks about how much the marriage rate has fallen and says that this is very grave for the future of Turkey. No, this is hope for the future of Turkey. Because it means that young people in this society can now make decisions about their own lives without the judgement of any man or anyone who has hegemony over them. We see the impact of our struggle for equality and freedom, which we have been raising in Turkey for years, on women in society."

 

‘Organising is the solution’

 

Esin İzel Uysal, KCDP representative Esin İzel Uysal stated that the government is trying to direct the society with pressure and regulations that have no legitimate grounds and said, "Whom will we marry? With whom will we be together? How many children will we have? He has started to think that he has a say in how we live and how we give birth to our children. We need to put a stop to this. The government is trying to imprison women inside the house by feeding gender inequality. Just as trustees were appointed to replace the mayors we elected, he wants to rule the country as a chieftain and appoint a chieftain to head these families. With its policies, the government is trying to expose women to much more discrimination and inequality in society. The solution is to organise and fight together. Even though the government is trying to deepen gender inequality, young women in society are especially participating in the struggle and getting organised. The whole society is taking to the streets to exercise their democratic rights despite the threat of detention and arrest. This is the only way to remove this government and to reach a future where we are truly equal and free."