Two ex-Gorran MPs say barred from entering Turkey for Kurdish women's conference

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two former women lawmakers of the Change Movement (Gorran) in the Kurdistan parliament said on Wednesday that they were briefly detained at the border and barred from entering Turkey to attend a Kurdish women’s conference in Diyarbakir (Amed).  

Gulistan Saeed and Nasrin Jamal, the former lawmakers, said in a joint statement that “unfortunately upon our arrival and after passport checks and investigation, and after we were detained for two hours then informed us that, by a special order from Ankara, we are not allowed to enter Turkish territory now or in the future.”

Kurdish women, primarily lawmakers and experienced politicians, gathered in Amed (Diyarbakir) for the inaugural Kurdish Women Lawmakers Conference, which is set to run through Thursday.

Several women from major Kurdish political parties, including Gorran, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Kurdistan Justice Group (Komal), Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), and the Kurdistan Social Democratic Party (KSDP), planned to attend the conference, at the invitation of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party). 

“Under the rule of an oppressive, intimidating, and racist government where human rights are not important to them, we returned to the south [Kurdistan Region],” the former lawmakers added.

Gorran emerged in 2009 as an opposition party but has joined the incumbent cabinet. It is based in Sulaimani province. 

The conference, hosted under the slogan “Let’s Build a Democratic Society,” featured Kurdish women lawmakers from the Kurdistan Region, the Middle East, and Europe, according to a DEM Party statement. 

“The two-day meeting will discuss topics such as women in democratic politics, the problems of women parliamentarians and their solutions, the role of women parliamentarians, and the common fight against violence against women,” the statement said.