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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Diyarbakir province in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast on Saturday banned chants of the iconic Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (Woman, Life, Freedom) phrase during demonstrations, according to politicians and media reports.
During a demonstration by the pro-Kurdish, women-only party the Free Women Movement in Diyarbakir (known to Kurds as Amed) on Saturday, security forces told protesters to stop chanting “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi,” citing a decision from the governor’s office that had declared the phrase “propaganda for a terrorist organization,” reported Mezopotamya Agency, a Turkey-based pro-Kurdish outlet.
The media outlet posted videos in which a police officer could be heard using a megaphone to tell protesters to refrain from using “organizational terminology” when the crowd chanted “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi.”
The protesters ignored the police warnings and continued their chants and ululations.
Rudaw English has reached out to the Diyarbakir governor’s office, but they were not immediately available for comment.
The slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” was first used in the early 2000s by the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), an all-female, Kurdish armed force in Syria. It regained popularity and spread around the world in 2022 during nationwide protests in Iran sparked by the death of Zhina Mahsa Amini, who was killed while in the custody of the morality police for allegedly wearing a lax hijab.
Parliament members and leaders of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) condemned the governor’s decision.
“Yes, the Diyarbakır governor’s office has made such an unreasonable decision. Unfortunately, in Turkey, Kurds and Kurdish cities are no longer governed by the rule of law. They are instead ruled by the arbitrary practices of governors, district governors, and security chiefs, which lack any legal basis,” Mehmet Kamac, a DEM Party MP from Diyarbakir, told Rudaw English.
Kamac said the governors are overstepping their roles and “assume the roles of the judiciary and courts.”
“The issue is not just about banning slogans. From the appointment of trustees to the arrest of politicians, it is governors, not courts, who have become the main decision-makers. The slogan ‘Jin Jiyan Azadi’ is not something a governor can ban,” Kamac added.
He said they do not recognize the decision by the governor’s office and they will continue using the chant.
We will, forever, express what made us who we are today; JIN JIYAN AZADÎ !#JinJiyanAzadi https://t.co/0wzH2k8uBs
— Eda Duzgun (@Eda_Dzg) November 23, 2024
Several DEM party members have written the slogan on their social media accounts and the party issued a statement vowing to keep using the phrase.
“Jin Jiyan Azadi is not just a slogan, it is a truth and the philosophy of our struggle. You cannot erase this truth or turn us away from our fight for freedom by imposing bans. Our struggle will continue, and Jin Jiyan Azadi will keep lighting our path forward,” the party said.
There were protests this weekend across Turkey’s Kurdish-majority provinces after the Interior Ministry announced it was removing several more Kurdish mayors from their posts on the allegations they have ties to terrorism and replacing them with trustees.
International rights groups have slammed the policy of removing the mayors.
"Denying hundreds of thousands of voters their chosen local government elected representatives and replacing them with the government’s own appointees not only undermines the democratic process, but violates the right to free and fair elections,” Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said earlier this month.
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