JINHA

DERSIM - In Dersim, women attended a ceremony to dedicate a monument to Kurdish woman fighter Sakine Cansız.

Sakine Cansız, originally from Dersim, was among the founders of the PKK. On January 9, 2013, she was slain along with two other Kurdish women activists in Paris. Yesterday, the Congress of Free Women (KJA) held a ceremony to dedicate a monument to Sakine Cansız in her native province of Dersim.

Women traveled hours from cities like Batman and Diyarbakır to attend the ceremony at Dersim's Asri Cemetery. Gültan Kışanak, co-mayor of the city of Diyarbakır and a survivor of torture in the same prison as Sakine, spoke at the ceremony, as did Sakine's younger sister Feride Cansız, who protested that few words could sufficiently honor her elder sister.

"Look at those responsible for the killing of our three saplings; look at those who have turned so much of this country into a graveyard," said Figen Yüksekdağ, co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), speaking at the ceremony. She noted that the forces in power were now panicking thanks to the efforts of women like Sakine who resisted oppression. "In spite of all their opportunities, they are in a terrible rush, a panic brought on by defeat."

The ceremony ended with a performance of laments dedicated to Sakine Cansız and the two activists killed alongside her (Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez).

(fk/cm)