Saturday Mothers

Saturday mothers, Istanbul, circa 1995

The Saturday Mothers (Turkish: Cumartesi Anneleri) is a group which gathers every Saturday at noon for half an hour at Galatasaray, Istanbul, Turkey, initially to ask for clarification about their missing relatives.[1] Mainly composed of mothers of victims, and renowned as a model of civil disobedience,[2][3] they combine silent sit-in with communal vigil as their method of protest against the forced disappearances and political murders by the deep state in Turkey during the military coup-era of the 1980s and the OHAL-era of the 1990s. The group began in 1995. It has faced repression from the state, including police violence and prosecution, most recently in November 2020.

History

According to the Human Rights Association, between 1992 and 1996, 792 state-forced disappearances and murders have been reported in the east of Turkey, with many more missing persons who remain unreported[4][5] (see also, OHAL).

Reportedly influenced by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo,[6] their first sit-in was on May 27, 1995.[3][6] After facing violent police attacks almost every week,[7][8][9] on March 13, 1999, they were forced to halt their protest following a particularly harsh series of attacks by the police and the resulting trauma in the participants.[1][10] They resumed their protests on January 31, 2009. Currently, the group that started with about 30 people[1] has thousands of participants. On August 25, 2018, Turkish authorities announced that the governorship has banned the gathering event indefinitely. Following the announcement, in their 700th peaceful protest, Saturday Mothers were faced with police violence and several of the participants were detained.[11] In November 2020, a prosecutor demanded up to three years imprisonment for protestors for attempting to have an "illegal meeting".[12]

The main demands of the group include:

Meeting with Prime Minister Erdogan

In February 2011, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan invited the Saturday Mothers to his office in Istanbul to listen to the requests of the mothers. Erdoğan said that as government he will do everything he can to alleviate the suffering of the family members, but also mentioned that it will not be easy to achieve results in cases that are older than 30 years. He noted, however, that this could not be an excuse and that the necessary efforts would be made to achieve positive results.[15]

Banned by the Erdogan Government

Ahead of their 700th Saturday vigil, the Erdogan government banned the Saturday Mothers as part of what Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Front Line Defenders in a joint statement called “a relentless crackdown on civil society, human rights defenders and those who peacefully express their dissent in Turkey.” When they gathered that day, the Saturday Mothers were arrested. Their trial began in Istanbul on 25 March 2021.[16]

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Gülsüm Baydar and Berfin İvegen. 2006. "Territories, Identities, and Thresholds: The Saturday Mothers Phenomenon in İstanbul". Signs, 31, 3, pp. 689-715.
  2. ^ B. Dağtaş and E. Dağtaş. 2007. "Sivil İtaatsizlik Örneği Olarak 'Cumartesi Anneleri' ('Saturday Mothers' as a Model of Civil Disoberdience)". Kültür ve İletişim.
  3. ^ a b "'C’était très drôle, une poignée de femmes, des centaines de policiers' : un entretien avec Ayşe Günaysu ('It was too absurd, a handful of women and hundreds of cops': An interview with Ayşe Günaysu)". Hypotheses. n.d. Accessed 18 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Turkey - Saturday Mothers", AHRC, 1997. Accessed 18 September 2014.
  5. ^ "The Saturday Mothers", Open Democracy, 4 December 2012. Accessed 18 September 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Ayfer Genç Yılmaz, 2014. "Toplumsal Hareketin Kalbinde Bir Yeni Özne: Anneler (A New Subject in the Heart of the Social Movement)", Marmara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilimler Dergisi (Marmara University Journal of Political Sciences), 2, 1, pp. 51-74. Accessed 18 September 2014.
  7. ^ ""Saturday Mothers": Government Must Find Bodies of Disappeared". Bianet. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  8. ^ "Cumartesi Anneleri/İnsanları 14 Yıldır Kayıpları Soruyor (Saturday Mothers have been asking about the lost ones for 14 years". Bianet. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  9. ^ Kural, Beyza. "Birinin Kaybedilmesiyle Başlıyor Her Şey" [It all starts with one forced disappearance]. Bianet. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  10. ^ Günaysu, Ayşe. """Cumartesi" Nasıl Başladı, Neden Ara Verildi?" ("How did "Saturday" Mothers start, how was it temporarily halted")". Bianet. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Turkish authorities banned the gathering of "Saturday" Mothers in their 700th peaceful event". Diken. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Prosecutor demanding prison sentences for Saturday mothers". Diken. 22 November 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  13. ^ a b c "Savaşa Değil, Barışa Yatırım Yapın" ("Invest in Peace not War"), Bianet, 23 June 2012. Accessed 22 July 2012.
  14. ^ a b c "Susmak Kaybedenleri Cesaretlendirir, Susmayacağız!" ("Silence encourages those who lose, we will not keep silent!"), Bianet, 16 June 2012. Accessed 22 July 2012.
  15. ^ "Başbakan 'Cumartesi Anneleri'yle buluştu". İlke Haber (in Turkish). 5 February 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  16. ^ "Turkey's "Saturday Mothers" on trial for protesting against disappearances". Reuters. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Hrant Dink Ödülü Cumartesi Anneleri ve Nataša Kandić’e gitti" ("Hrant Dink Award goes to the Saturday Mothers and Nataša Kandić"). Agos. 15 September 2013. Accessed 20 September 2013.
  18. ^ "Saturday Mothers awarded Human Rights, Peace and Democracy award". ANF News. Retrieved 2019-05-24.