“Civil society remains so clumsy on the face of the humanitarian demands of the region,” she told Today's Zaman.

She explained that there are many children in the Southeast, since a woman in the region has an average of seven children. For example, in Hakkari, 59 percent of the population is under the age of 20, and 40 percent is under the age of 14.

“Obviously, they want to play soccer, go to school, have a job, etc. They want what their counterparts in the Western part of the country want, nothing different. They do not wish to go up in the mountains to be terrorists. The same goes for the women. They want to be respected members of society,” she said.

Speaking to Monday Talk, she elaborated on the issue and told us that why the Kurdish initiative is so important for KAGİDER and the women of the predominantly Kurdish areas of the country.

Why is the Kurdish initiative important for KAGİDER?

There are two reasons. One is that we have been living in a warlike environment in Turkey for the last 25 years, and even though it seems like the war is contained in a certain region, it has been affecting the whole of Turkey and removing the element of confidence in society -- the confidence of individuals in the state, the confidence of individuals in public institutions and the confidence of an individual in another individual. We do not want to live in such an environment any longer, first of all as women, secondly as businesspeople and thirdly as representatives of civil society. So we are glad that there is an opportunity for a peaceful environment to have a debate on some topics that could never have been discussed before because of fears of prosecution.

Do you think there is yet an environment of confidence?

There isn't an environment of confidence, but there is an environment that would allow the environment of confidence to flourish. For an environment of confidence to develop, there need to be some concrete steps taken.

What sort of steps?

I will talk about this issue, too. But I'd like to finish my idea about why the initiative is important for us.

Of course.

We heard from [writer-journalist] Cengiz Çandar at KAGİDER recently. He told us that the late President Turgut Özal had said Turkey is a fit athlete who has all the conditions necessary to run, but he or she has this stomach pain that prevents him or her from running. This was an approach evaluating Turkey's Kurdish issue so as to say that you can't make a sound investment in the area because of the unstable environment. Despite that, Turkey has realized 6-7 percent annual growth rates. When we are able to cure that stomach pain, Turkey will be able to run without any limits. We are businesspeople, and we have women entrepreneur groups in that region, in Diyarbakır, Mardin, Maraş. We would like them to grow. That's another reason why we'd like this initiative to be successful. And back to your question…

‘Women have seven children on average'

Yes.

Gender inequality in Turkey is best demonstrated in the women of that region. In the region, women are less educated, their employment rate is very low and they are subject to more domestic violence than in any other part of the country. If the Kurdish initiative is about granting Turkish citizens equal citizenship rights regardless of their ethnic origin -- and this is how we would like to see it -- then we hope that this environment, which breeds gender inequality, will be eliminated with the initiative. That's why we support it. And you were asking what steps would move the process forward for us. Eighty percent of women living there are illiterate; 40 percent of them marry within the family; domestic violence reaches up to 50 percent. We would like these eliminated with a package that is expected to deal with the Kurdish issue. We expect a mobilization process regarding women. For example, if there is a language barrier in front of women that is preventing their education, that should be removed. The region's women cannot even communicate in public institutions because they don't know Turkish. This is an important barrier in front of women who should be able to demand the services that they have a right to. So there should be a serious literacy campaign.

Additionally, women have seven children on average in the area, compared to 1.7 children per woman in the Western part of Turkey. We cannot talk about an issue like women's employment when they have seven children. There should be campaigns to promote birth control.

You have centers in Diyarbakır and Mardin. What do you remember most from your meetings and contact with women from the region?

What I remember most is that all these years we've just been thinking that we understand problems without knowing that we haven't understood anything. Apparently, some things cannot be told or understood; you just have to go there and see it. I have always read facts about the region in reports, but I haven't really felt it. We sit in a comfortable setting in İstanbul and talk about the issue seriously. We also have demands from the government regarding a solution. But what needs to happen is to actually have more empathy, for example, to feel more deeply what drives a woman to suicide when she is subjected to domestic violence. We have been criticized inside KAGİDER before for not going to Hakkari, and I'll go there for the first time for the Kurdish Women's Conference at Hakkari University. Simply naming this conference thus is an important step forward because it indicates recognition of Kurdish women. [One bit of] self-criticism of our organization is that the women that we do meet from the region represent women of higher status, so we do not grasp the severity of the issue.

As you've visited some provinces of the region in the past few years, could you make a comparison between your past and present observations?

Diyarbakır is very different from the other provinces. There are a lot of international organizations actively working there, especially on social issues. Diyarbakır is quite advanced in that regard. But Mardin is still hungry for such development. Every time we go there, we are received with great hopes and expectations. Even our smallest projects in Mardin can have profound effects. But what I observe everywhere in the region is this: There are no big projects dreamt up by women. Almost all of their projects are planned around their homes. Even women's dreams are limited, as they cannot imagine themselves functioning outside of their homes. They think very conservatively when it comes to creating business projects. They have less confidence in themselves. I am from Mardin, and when we go there, their confidence comes back because they see that if we can do it, they can do it, too.

You are from Mardin.

Yes, I've seen how language can pose a big barrier in front of women. I had grandmothers who spoke only Arabic, and we moved to İstanbul with my grandmothers. I can empathize with the Kurdish women who have been forced to communicate only in Turkish.

What else is there in the region that you wish to understand?

For my purposes related to KAGİDER, I'd like to go there to share experiences and be in solidarity with other women. I have a Kurdish friend whose name is Rojbin. When we first listened to her three years ago, we were a number of women in a conference hall. We all cried as we listened to what she told us. She is a lawyer who has been visiting families in the region in order to find people who lost body parts in mine explosions. And she then finds prosthetic limbs for those people. We felt for those people after we heard that there is at least one person who has lost a limb in every home. It was very dramatic for us, the women from İstanbul. So I've realized that we have all been living lives that are so disconnected. We've imagined the Kurdish problem as an old and unsolvable issue. But we now see that it is possible to talk about it. And there is no turning back.

‘Polarization in society is a big problem'

Do you think there is enough support from civil society for the Kurdish initiative?

Is TOBB [Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges] a civil society organization? [referring to the government's attempt to seek the support of TOBB] Can you call TOBB and TİSK [Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions] civil society organizations? They are political interest groups. I would define civil society groups as formations that can support their representative base against controlling powers and that can emphasize individual rights and democracy. In general, women's organizations have been successful in supporting the initiative. But the problem in Turkey is polarization in society. Therefore, the Kurdish issue is seen as a divisive issue, even though it should not be seen that way.

Would you explain more about this idea?

When society is polarized in such a way, for example, strict secularists against those who oppose strict secularism, people are almost forced to choose their ideological sides. This actually prevents us all from seeing the big picture. Some of the civil society in Turkey, instead of siding with the individual, stands behind an ideology. This approach prevents it from seeing the problem from the perspective of equal citizenship and compassion, just like some politicians. Civil society remains so clumsy in the face of the humanitarian demands of the region.

There are many children in the region. In Hakkari, 59 percent of the population is under the age of 20, and 40 percent is under the age of 14. There is a young population. Obviously, they want to play soccer, go to school, have a job, etc. They want what their counterparts in the Western part of the country want; nothing different. They do not wish to go up in the mountains to be terrorists. The same goes for the women. They want to be respected members of society.