Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

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