Asya Tekin - Mizgin Tabu/ JINHA

AĞRI - With the declaration of "temporary security zones" in areas of Northern Kurdistan (in Turkey), women have taken to the slopes of the war-torn mountains of Ağrı province, putting their lives on the line in a vigil for peace.

Since the intensification of a new form of war in Northern Kurdistan (in Turkey), the Turkish army has declared so-called "temporary security zones" in dozens of areas across the region. Soldiers have been stopping local residents from accessing pastures, villages and agricultural areas that fall within these zones.

One area where these zones have been declared is Ağrı province, where the army has declared the slopes of Mt. Ararat and Mt. Tendürek "security zones" for military operations. In defiance of the ban, local women have entered the areas to stop shots from being fired. The women have taken to the slopes in a "human shield operation" with the support of political parties Democratic Regions Party (DBP), Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the women's group Congress of Free Women (KJA).

The women have taken up vigils at three separate locations in the mountains. They say they aim to stop the war, as well as the evacuation of the grazing areas that are the only source of livelihood for locals.

"Anyone in this country who doesn't want war should reject the war and serve as human shields for Turkish and Kurdish youth," said Özlem Demir, the provincial co-chair of the DBP, who is taking part in one of the three vigils, hers on a slope of Mt. Tendürek. "We won't let anyone in this country make war," she said.

"The Kurdish people are a people who have seen lots of repression and war throughout history," said Kezban Dumlu, co-chair of the HDP's provincial organization. "We're not scared of war, but we want the blood to stop. We want peace to come to this land."

Kezban and the other women have been holding their vigil for the last five days, hoping to stop any clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Turkish soldiers through their presence as civilians. Kezban noted that the group kept up their vigil even as a helicopter bombed the opposite slope of the mountain, able to do nothing but pray that no one would be killed.

"Our only concern is that there be no loss of life--neither of soldiers nor of guerrillas," said Kezban.

On April 11, the Turkish military had launched an operation in the same province, in an area held for years by guerrillas in a state of ceasefire. Local people launched a similar "human shield" resistance vigil to stop the two sides from firing on each other, but a local activist as well as a guerrilla were both shot and killed that day.

HDP activist Sevgi İlboğa, who called the April operation as an attempt to drum up votes for the AKP in the election upcoming at the time, said, "you can't get votes from us by killing our people." She promised that the people of the region would continue resisting for peace, as they had before.

(gc/cm)