ARJÎN DİLEK ÖNCEL

 Amed (Diyarbakır)- A ceremony was held in Şikefta Casenê, located in the countryside of the city of Sulaymaniyah on July 11, 2025 to destroy weapons in response to a call from Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.

The Imrali delegation from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) met chairs of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Future Party to form a commission and DEM Party Co-chairs Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan met Ibrahim Kalın, the director of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) this week.

Kurdish mothers have been at the frontline of the struggle for peace for years and now they are at the frontline of the struggle for the success of the new process that started following the “Call for Peace and Democratic Society” by Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.

Nezahat Teke, a member of the Peace Mothers’ Initiative, is one of these women. She is the mother of Nesrin Teke, who set herself on fire on June 2, 2000.

Nesrin Teke was born in Amed in 1981. She joined the “You Cannot Block Our Sun” actions to protest the international conspiracy against Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and set herself on fire.

‘The burden of peace is a heavy burden’

“The burden of peace is a heavy burden to carry. A person can sacrifice herself for peace,” Nesrin Teke told her mother before she set herself on fire. Nesrin Teke was seriously injured and transferred to a hospital in Adana; however, she lost her life at the hospital on July 9, 2000.

After the action of her daughter, Nezahat Teke joined the Peace Mothers’ Initiative and since then she has struggled for peace. She was one of the people who attended the ceremony held in Sulaymaniyah on July 11, 2025.

‘I buried my heart’

“Mothers have paid the heaviest price of this war,” said Nezahat Teke, who called her daughter "my heart”. “I have buried my heart. As a mother, who lost her daughter and a member of the Peace Mothers’ Initiative, I have been struggling for peace for 25 years. We have only one slogan, ‘We have lost our children, and do not allow other mothers to lose their children’. I hope that weapons will not be needed anymore and that a lasting peace will be ensured.”

Nezahat Teke called on the Turkish government to take concrete and positive steps for peace. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) held its 12th congress between May 5 and May 7, 2025. On May 12, 2025, the PKK announced that it dissolved itself and ended its armed struggle.

“The congress was held and the PKK dissolved itself. They laid down weapons. The government must take necessary steps now to ensure peace,” said Nezahat Teke.

Kudret Eryılmaz was another mother, who attended the ceremony held on July 11. Her son lost his life in the Kurdish struggle for peace. She is also a member of the Peace Mothers’ Initiative. Speaking about the ceremony, she said, “A group of 30 wrote their names in history in golden letters and they actually wanted to say to us, ‘We are ready to die for a life with dignity, and we are ready for peace.’ We demand the government to take steps for peace now. I call on the mothers of soldiers and police officers to take on responsibility for peace.”

Kudret Eryılmaz called on the Turkish government to stop its airstrikes on the mountains of Kurdistan. “Erdoğan sends six or seven warplanes every day while speaking about peace. These airstrikes must end now to build a lasting peace.”