The first event of Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality’s Peace Meetings commenced with the theme “Migration, Return and Peace”. Speaking at the opening, Co-Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality Serra Bucak emphasised that the issue of peace would be strengthened through debates conducted at the local level.
Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality has launched the “Peace Meetings” with the aim of addressing peace in all its dimensions and building a shared future. Bringing together people from different communities, faiths and cultures, the meetings will be held once a month over a period of seven months.
The first event, held with the support of the Mesopotamia Migration Monitoring and Research Association, took place in Cemilpaşa Mansion in the Sur district under the theme “Migration, Return and Peace”. The event was attended by Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Serra Bucak, Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) MP Saliha Aydeniz, district mayors, representatives of civil society organisations, and numerous citizens.
“The healing of wounds is of great importance for collective memory”
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Medya Alkan from the Mesopotamia Migration Monitoring Association stated that different peoples and communities have suffered deep pain from past to present. Alkan said: “The recognition of these historical sufferings, the redress of grievances and the initiation of processes of confrontation are of great importance both for the healing of wounds and for the strengthening of society’s collective memory.”
“The peace process will be strengthened through local debates”
Co-Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality Serra Bucak underlined that the peace process would be strengthened through debates at the local level, stating: “The road to peace advances through the efforts made on every front. As local governments, we defend democracy and believe that peace will be reinforced through debates at the local level. These meetings are also part of that belief.”
Later, in the first session moderated by Özlem Dilmaç, Prof. Dr. Ayşe Betül Çelik and social worker Berxwedan Şamar spoke.
Prof. Dr. Ayşe Betül Çelik, an academic from Sabancı University, was awarded the Italian Order of Merit for her studies in the 1990s on the forced migration of Kurds. In her work, she focuses on women’s confrontation with the past, their search for justice, and their connection with current processes. In her speech, she particularly addressed the experiences and demands of women during forced migration. Çelik said: “In my own research, I have focused on the question: ‘What do women demand for peace?’”
Social worker Berxwedan Şamar, on the other hand, addressed the socio-psychological effects of forced migration. Highlighting that there are very few studies on the traumas experienced by displaced Kurds, Şamar shared the findings of his research.
Mıhçı: We do not know how many of us there are in Turkey
In the second session, DEM Party Central Executive Committee Member Murat Mıhçı and Sur Municipality Co-Mayor Adnan Örhan spoke. Beginning his speech in Armenian, Mıhçı said that it was one of the most difficult speeches of his life. Mıhçı stated: “We do not know how many of us there are in Turkey; only the state knows this. There are 88 Armenians who openly identify themselves. ‘My grandmother was Armenian’ – this is a very heavy statement; and this is exactly where we must begin. The history of the world is a history of migrations.”
Sur Municipality Co-Mayor Adnan Örhan, on the other hand, emphasised the significance of the meeting, saying: “As you know, over the course of the past 50 years, many pains have been endured. Each of our friends has a story. We are the ones who have been most affected by suffering and oppression, but we are also the ones who desire peace the most.”
The meeting concluded following a question-and-answer session.
