Rosa Luxemburg and Clara Zetkin turned PKK members!

Diyarbak?r State prosecutors have assumed Rosa Luxemburg and Clara Zetkin, whose names featured on posters for last year’s 8 March International Women’s Day, were PKK members.

Lawyer Ru?en Seydao?lu condemned the ignorance of the prosecutors, saying: “by assuming Clara and Rosa, who died long before the PKK was founded, to be PKK members, they have demonstrated how far they are from the problems of women in this country, where dozens are killed every day.

The posters advertising a 8 March rally organised by the Democratic Free Women’s Movement (DÖKH) under the slogan “The path from Rosa to Sakine is our path, your fight is our fight” had been banned by the Diyarbak?r no. 1 Court. In correspondence sent to the 8 March Organising Committee by the Diyarbak?r Security Directorate was the following: “The Diyarbak?r no. 1 Court banned and ordered the confiscation of the posters affixed to billboards in various sites in our province bearing Turkish and Kurdish wording and the pictures of 6 women in a decision of 27 February 2013.”

Turkish prosecutors do not know who Luxemburg and Zetkin are

Following the banning and seizure of the posters with the photos of Rosa Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin, Leyla Qasim, Sakine Cans?z, Fidan Do?an and Leyla ?aylemez an investigation was launched into members of the organising committee for “disseminating propaganda for an illegal organisation”. In the scope of the investigation the prosecutor considered Rosa Luxemburg and Clara Zetkin, symbols of the world women’s movement, to be “members of the organisation”, while concluding there was no case to answer. In the notification made to the organising committee and their legal representatives it was stated that after the committee had been notified of the banning order they had made efforts to comply with the order by removing the said posters from billboards, a fact that had been noted, and that consequently the decision had been made to take no further action.

Posters seized

Lawyer Ru?en Seydao?lu said that women’s organisations and trade unions had set up an organising committee to co-ordinate last year’s 8 March World Women’s Day celebrations, preparing posters and leaflets, adding: “The photographs of Rosa Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin, Sakine Cans?z, Fidan Do?an and Leyla ?aylemez had only just been put up when notification arrived of the confiscation order. Despite their being taken down an investigation was launched on the grounds of non-compliance with the ban, but this concluded with the decision not to prosecute.”

The judiciary has no background knowledge of the women’s struggle

Seydao?lu added that when they examined the decision they saw that Clara Zetkin and Rosa Luxemburg had been considered PKK members, saying: “This assessment is an indication of the complete lack of education in the judiciary regarding the struggle of women. We have seen many examples of this ignorance in cases of violence against women. The legal system does not protect women.”

Seydao?lu added that the approach of the courts to activities relating to International Women’s Day, deeming them ‘criminal’, reflected their attitude in seeing all women in struggle as criminal, in particular Kurdish women, saying: “Whichever organisation it is, for the state all women who oppose the system are the same and are guilty. They make no distinction between Kurdish women, Rosa, Clara or Sakine Cans?z as far as the women’s struggle is concerned. By assuming Clara and Rosa, who died long before the PKK was founded, to be PKK members, they have demonstrated how far they are from understanding the problems of women in this country, where dozens are killed every day.”