Beritan Canözer/JINHA

MÊRDÎN - Zeynep Sipçik, the co-mayor of the town of Dargeçit, Turkey, was on the frontlines in a sit-in against new military installations. Zeynep says she is ready to defend the area from any militarization and attacks on the environment.

The district of Dargeçit, inhabited by Kurds and Assyrians, is among the many areas threatened by the planned Ilısu Dam. The dam is part of the Turkish state's project to build so-called "security dams" that would create a military environment that is easier to control in the country's Kurdish region. Local people have come out strongly against the security dams, which would flood historic areas like the city of Hasankeyf and disrupt the natural balance in the region.

"When we look at history, there is no concept of a 'security dam' anywhere else," said Zeynep. "Turkey has come up with this concept for the dams it is building in Kurdistan." She explained that the main role of security dams was to scare local people, but that they also destroyed local history, culture, agricultural resources and traditional life ways.

Since construction began on the "security dam" in 2006, the Turkish state has been tirelessly building military and police posts throughout the region. The result has been an increasing military buildup in the Kurdish region, despite the ongoing peace process with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

This past Tuesday, local women activists with the Peace Mothers Assembly got wind of the construction of three new small military installations that the state refers to as "security cottages" to guard the dam. The security cottages were to be built on private land. The recently passed "Internal Security Law" gives state security forces sweeping powers in Turkey; it was the justification for the new security cottages. Women headed to the construction site and began a sit-in.

Zeynep was there from the beginning. Zeynep said that while the soldiers backed off from attacking the demonstrators in the face of the Peace Mothers' determination in particular, the problem is ongoing. The women of the region are ready to resort to further methods of struggle if the state does not stop construction, including using their bodies to stop the construction and going on hunger strikes.

"As a people, we will not allow dams, sentry posts and high-security military posts in Kurdistan," said Zeynep.

(mc/fk/cm)