Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
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REVUE DE PRESSE~PRESS REVIEW~BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ~RNISTA STAMPA~DENTRO DE LA PRENSA~BASLNÖZETi<br />
The reality of the Kurdish<br />
camps.<br />
be a Kurd was a disgrace.<br />
Iremember being taken to<br />
Diyarbekir' s by my mother<br />
when I was just a small girl.<br />
She was wearing her Kurdish<br />
pesant clothes and I was<br />
aware that because of who<br />
we were we were .badly<br />
taken care of. It isone of my<br />
earliest memories.<br />
Weie you infiuenced poiitically<br />
by Mehdi?<br />
Not directly. Until 1980 the<br />
politicians of Mehdi's generation<br />
did not mix their family<br />
life with their politicallife,<br />
afterwards that changed.<br />
You say you began to<br />
change gradually. in what<br />
way? .<br />
Well, for example the issue<br />
of torture. Ihad known it was<br />
going on since 1979but then<br />
when Mehdi was imprisoned<br />
they began to torture him<br />
and his friends, I saw it as a.<br />
personal thing then. "Ibegan<br />
reading political books ...1<br />
didn't un<strong>de</strong>rstand all the<br />
words."<br />
For six months I was not allowed<br />
to see him, during this<br />
time they were torturing and<br />
beating him. Every week I<br />
would go to the prison to see<br />
him to be told 'no visit'.<br />
About that time I began<br />
reading the books.<br />
The first one, I remember,<br />
was The Partisan 's Daughter.<br />
In those days I did not speak<br />
34. The Middle East October 1993<br />
Turkishwell and could not un<strong>de</strong>rstand<br />
all the words, it was<br />
difficult reading. After that I<br />
read The Red Stones, a book<br />
on the history of the Chinese<br />
communist party. It told the<br />
story of communists against<br />
the system, there were fascists<br />
and there were heroes'<br />
who were thrown into jail, I<br />
comparedit to our own, tt-,e I<br />
Kurdish,situation.<br />
By 1984I had begun taking<br />
part in political activities. I<br />
went on various <strong>de</strong>monstrations<br />
and took strike action<br />
in front of the prison.<br />
How did it feel to be actively<br />
involved?<br />
It was tremendous. I had<br />
changed, become different,<br />
I had an i<strong>de</strong>ntity. It was terrific.<br />
In 1984 I was able to tell<br />
myself, 'Here Iam. Ido exist'.<br />
There continued to be conflict<br />
b<strong>et</strong>ween Mehdi and myself.<br />
He wanted me to be<br />
politically 'involved, to do<br />
things but for him. He was not<br />
happy when I did som<strong>et</strong>hing<br />
for me.<br />
Was this sort of behaviour<br />
typical?<br />
Everywhere in the world<br />
women are ill treated by<br />
men but amongst the Kurds<br />
it isespecially bad. A women<br />
is not even treated as a servant,<br />
she isa thing, almost an<br />
animal. At home for exampie,<br />
my father slept from the<br />
morning through to the evening<br />
when he would wake,<br />
eat and go out to see his<br />
friends to chat with them.<br />
Meanwhile, my mother<br />
spent the whole day working,<br />
taking care of the animals.<br />
When she r<strong>et</strong>urned<br />
home in the evening to prepare<br />
food and take care of<br />
t:-!a fcmily he \ovou:diegular!y<br />
beat her. He believed she<br />
should do everything he<br />
wanted, just like a slave.<br />
"Fora Kurd the birth<br />
of a girl is nothing, "<br />
Forthe first 12years of their<br />
married life my mother did<br />
not bear children. Then she<br />
had four daughters, in quick<br />
succession. Nobody talked<br />
to her, especially not my father'<br />
sfamily. Ifone of my little<br />
sisterswould awaken and cry<br />
in the night and disturb my<br />
. father, he would take my<br />
mother and the child and<br />
throw .them outsi<strong>de</strong>, whatever<br />
the weather. Shewould<br />
stay there until she felt he<br />
was asleep and it was safe to<br />
creep back insi<strong>de</strong>.<br />
For a Kurd the birth of a girl<br />
is nothing. Not long ago my<br />
father visited me and said: 'I<br />
want your brother to marry'.<br />
.When I asked him why he<br />
told me it was because he<br />
MOSAIC<br />
wanted a grandson in case<br />
one day we succeed and<br />
there is a free Kurdistan. I replied<br />
'But you already have<br />
a grandson, my son'. 'No',<br />
my father replied, 'your son is<br />
not interesting, he does not<br />
carry my name.' I am fond<br />
of my father, even though<br />
when he comes back home<br />
he brings with him the violence<br />
he sees outsi<strong>de</strong>, the<br />
violence of the gendarmes<br />
and of the policemen.<br />
Have you ever discussed<br />
these things with your<br />
mother?<br />
No, we saw her very little.<br />
When we were younger she<br />
was working all day and now<br />
she is in very poor physical<br />
condition. My mother islike a<br />
very old woman.<br />
Did your feelings of personal<br />
change continue?<br />
Yes,gradually until in 19881<br />
was arrested. The change<br />
had been little by little until<br />
then when everything became<br />
clear. I was kept in<br />
custody for seven days during<br />
which time I was interrogated<br />
and after that I spent<br />
a further 50 days in jail.<br />
V-!hy were you Oiiested?<br />
I had gone to visit Mehdi.<br />
There were a lot of people in<br />
front of the jail. It was July<br />
and quite hot. Many of the<br />
women there were with babies<br />
and young children,<br />
there were also old women.<br />
Therewas no water and everybody<br />
was very uncomfortable,<br />
especially the young<br />
and the el<strong>de</strong>rly. They took us<br />
into a gar<strong>de</strong>n where it was<br />
.,<br />
144