As part of activities marking 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality held a sapling-planting event in Barış Forest.

The event was organised by the Department of Women and Family Services to draw attention to violence against women and took place in Barış Forest, an area belonging to the Metropolitan Municipality. Attendees included Demet Ceylan, Co-Spokesperson of the DBB Council; members of the Metropolitan Municipality Women’s Assembly; Özden Gürbüz Sümer, Head of the Department of Women and Family Services; and women employees from the Metropolitan Municipality and the Diyarbakır Water and Sewerage Administration (DİSKİ) Directorate General.

‘We will plant saplings for women’

Speaking ahead of the event, Gürbüz Sümer highlighted femicide and said:

“In our city alone, 17 women were murdered in the first ten months of this year. One of these, sadly, took place during the very week in which we have been continuing our 25 November activities. We are angry, but we are also hopeful—because our determination in the women’s struggle, our organised efforts as we walk this path, and women’s solidarity will never come to an end. Today, here in this memorial forest, we will plant saplings for women. This will not be merely a tree-planting event; it will be a renewed pledge that we will never give up our struggle, our lives, or our rights. The slogan of our campaign is: ‘Our word is not over; together, we will stop violence.’ We will build a life that is free from violence, free and equal through women’s solidarity and an organised women’s movement.”

Following the statement, the women planted the saplings and watered them.