While many women’s civil society organisations and activists have been carrying out aid and solidarity campaigns to meet the needs of women in the earthquake-affected region, the government has stepped up crackdown on women in the area.
While some volunteers were detained, the Governorate wants to evacuate a park, where many initiatives and organisations have been carrying out solidarity activities.
On 6 February 2023, twin earthquakes struck 11 provinces in Türkiye, killing more than 43,000 people and injuring many others. Civil society organizations, volunteers and public institutions, particularly those already in the region, deployed immediately to the cities to support survivors of the disaster, in which hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes and loved ones.
SES Equality and Solidarity Association (SES) has created ‘Women’s Solidarity Fund’ to bring a special focus on women’s needs and support local women’s NGOs in the affected regions and also to support women journalists, videographers, and podcasters to bring local women’s voices to the national and international agenda. They are producing solidarity packs for women, consisting of essentials ang hygiene products, support the relief projects of grassroots women civil society organizations and dedicated journalists to report from the quake-ridden cities with the aim to provide media coverage (including investigative reports, interviews, videos, and photography) to give voice to the women survivors, assess their needs and help them to reach out to a larger audience for further relief funds.
The Women’s Center Foundation (KAMER), a women’s organization founded in 2005 in Diyarbakır—one of the provinces hit by the earthquakes, has managed to quickly reach thousands of people in need in earthquake zones through its extensive network and 21 branches in southeast Türkiye.
Nebahat Akkoç, Chairperson of KAMER, says they are distributing aid packages daily, which contain sanitary pads, underwear, diapers and other essential items for women and girls. “Due to social norms, women in the region are embarrassed to ask for hygiene products, such as pads and underwear. Many women and girls are calling us to ask for such needs because we are a women’s organization, so they know they can talk about their needs more freely. We also collaborate with public institutions and inform them about the needs and requests women are approaching us with. As a women’s organization, we are in the field, and we advocate for the rights of all women and girls,” says Akkoç.
Drawing attention to the deficiencies and negligence in meeting the needs of women in the earthquake region, Ekmek ve Gül launched a project with the call “We rebuild our lives through bridges of sisterhood” in order to increase and sustain solidarity with women and children.
The feminist group called the Feminist Solidarity for Disaster, is collecting aid materials for Hatay now after those they took to Adıyaman with the first Purple Truck. They have made a new call to collect the materials they will be taking to Hatay. The group identified what the women in the earthquake-hit areas need by talking to them directly and prepared lists. The Purple Truck was loaded with the participation of volunteers and took off from İstanbul. The team that went to Adıyaman with the truck divided into smaller groups here and went to each neighborhood. They visited the tents one by one and distributed the underwear, sanitary pads, diapers, baby food, winter coats, slippers and hygiene materials in the truck.
The Women’s Coalition, on the other hand, established a Disaster Coordination Network to contribute to build bridges between resources and those in need, and to combat rights violations. The Women’s Solidarity Foundation also stated that it will be in Samandağ on 8 March Women’s Day to show solidarity with women affected by the earthquake. The Foundation aims to deliver many materials, especially clothes and hygiene products, to earthquake-affected women.
The Purple Solidarity community is also bringing together volunteers for the delivery of aid to the earthquake zone. Calling all volunteers to solidarity, the group has been collecting aid since the first day and in dialogue with the women in the disaster zone. On the other hand, many volunteers were detained by special operations forces in Hatay this week, where they went to distribute supplies and hold a public meeting. In the statement made by the solidarity platform, it was noted that the volunteers were not allowed to leave the school where they were held.
‘They don’t want feminists here’
According to Evrim Kepenek from Bianet, the spokeperson for Purple Solidarity, Cemile Baklacı said, “The police prevented our friends and especially did not want them to meet with women. They confiscated women’s mobile phones by showing their guns and threatening them, and asked them to delete the footage they had taken.”
“We are there for solidarity and we constantly face such obstacles. They don’t want feminists to be here. They don’t want us to come together with women. No matter what they do, they will not be able to stop us, our solidarity will continue.”
Evacuation of Sevgi Park
In Hatay Defne, 22 days after the earthquake, the state wants to evacuate Sevgi Park, where many earthquake victims were sheltering and where feminists, health organisations, many political parties, unions and associations were carrying out solidarity activities.
There are also women’s solidarity tents set up by feminist organisations such as Women’s Defence Network and Purple Solidarity in the park. Members of the Women’s Defence Network reacted to the evacuation of the park with a video they shared on social media. In the video, they said:
“The state, which has not been here for 20 days, now suddenly says that it will come and evict everyone from their tents while people still cannot reach the most basic necessities. We have been here for 20 days trying to provide the most basic needs of women and to be in solidarity with them. We were here when no one was here. Just as we have organised solidarity here for 20 days, showing each other that another life is possible, we will continue to be here to take strength from each other and hug each other. Women say that they will not leave Sevgi Park, that volunteers, not the state, have been here for days. We are not going anywhere until the women leave!”