First lady Emine Erdoğan said women knew the value of peace best and a sustainable peace is impossible without women as she attended the Antalya Diplomacy Forum where she hosted first ladies from around the world.
Heads of state and top diplomats from around the world convened in the southern Turkish province of Antalya over the weekend for the event. First lady Emine Erdoğan was among the participants of the forum inaugurated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In a session of the forum entitled Women, Peace and Security, the first lady emphasized women’s role in peace. "Lest not forget: A permanent, sustainable peace is a process where no one is left behind. A peace process not inclusive of women, a basic, transforming part of the community, cannot achieve success," she said.
As she addressed other first ladies and participants at the session, Emine Erdoğan said the world was now facing crises a country cannot overcome alone. "Never in history, we knew the foundations of values and institutions bringing together humanity were shaken. Unfortunately, we hold this meeting under the dark shadow of war, not in a peaceful environment. Wars and conflicts spread like a fire. It is our house, our family, our common values that are burning. In an age where polarization and racism have increased, where intolerance and greed stoke hatred, maintaining peace and order is increasingly difficult. Disagreements that can be resolved by diplomacy based on a fair and strong will, rapidly evolve into conflicts," she stated.
Emine Erdoğan referred to conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Palestine and other hot spots, "where the same painful cries emerged." "Innocent people who have to flee their homes are brutally massacred. Violence also inflicted irreparable wounds in the hearts of children. All conscious people of the world shout cease-fire, peace immediately in an united voice. We are now at a stage where we ran out of words (for the call to peace). I think the last word on this matter was the words of the 6-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab: 'Please rescue me,'" Erdoğan said. She was referring to the Gazan child who pleaded with Red Crescent officials last month to rescue her from a car she was trapped in with her relatives, all of whom were killed by Israeli army gunfire. The lifeless body of Rajab was found hours later as rescue workers were unable to reach her due to incessant gunfire. "We could not rescue her, her family and health crews rushed to help them," she lamented.
Erdoğan also spoke about Aaron Bushnell, a young U.S. soldier who burned himself outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. last month. "He departed this life after uttering all the words he can about it. His humanitarian dignity was hurt by his view that he might be a part of the genocide. He was of the same age as Rachel Corrie who who was crushed to death by Israel’s bulldozers," she said. Corrie, a peace activist, became a symbol of the international voice against Israeli oppression when she was killed in 2003 in Rafah, Palestine as she attempted to stop the demolition of houses of Palestinians by the Israeli army.
"At this point, we have to keep the hope of peace alive and increase our peace efforts. The world needs fair, brave and righteous leaders more than ever. I believe we will restore an order of peace through unity, when brave people believing in peace join forces and break this cycle of violence," she added.
The first lady said women were disproportionately affected by wars, so their voice was louder for peace. "Women, whose homes they built were razed to the ground, shaken by the loss of their children, women forced to leave the lands they were born and raised, prized peace more. The United Nations Security Council secured women’s participation in peace processes with Resolution 1325 adopted 24 years ago. Unfortunately, we are witnessing that women, primary victims of conflicts and primary actors of community building, are not being effectively included in mediating and peace processes. Whereas, studies show that there is a higher probability of agreement in those processes and peace can be lasting when women are included in the process. Women’s nature is more open to cooperation with different groups and sensitivity to social issues increases chances of success in peace processes. Thus, as we highlight diplomacy, we have to ensure that women take part in decision-making mechanisms," she said.
She added that she had faith in a sustainable and fair peace that would be co-created by women in an age "tired of wars," noting that peace movements in Palestine, Ukraine, Syria and Yemen were empowered by women. "As spouses of leaders and women at decision-making posts, we have a responsibility," she said. Erdoğan mentioned that Türkiye hosted hundreds of child victims of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, an initiative she launched in cooperation with Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska. She also spoke about how Türkiye hosted child victims from Gaza whose treatments are covered by the country.
Erdoğan’s speech also concentrated on the Palestine-Israel conflict. "We will never bow to those who try to reduce the hard-won international law and justice system, achieved at great cost, to a mere written statement," she stressed, in criticism of inaction by the international community. "How do the world leaders who marched together in Paris when 25 people were killed justify their silence when 30,000 people, mostly women and children, are brutally killed?" she said, referring to global condemnation of a series of shootings in France and the subsequent unprecedented march. "These civilized countries supposed to save children, women and innocent people succumb to darkness so much that they cannot even call for a cease-fire. How many lives will end? How many Palestinians should die to wake up the rage and pain in the public conscience, at the same level as deaths of Europeans?" she said. Erdoğan added that people working for peace and exhibiting a courageous stand in the face of the shameful genocide will go down in history. The first lady thanked all countries working on this matter, especially South Africa, which brought Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its crimes against Palestinians. The first lady, who hosted a first ladies’ summit in Istanbul last November for a common stand for the rights of Palestinians, also reiterated her thanks to "sisters who expressed a strong stand for the cause of the oppressed."
Along with Emine Erdoğan, activist Tawakkol Karman, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ivana Zivkovic, African Union Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security Bineta Diop, Bulgaria’s first lady Desislava Radeva and Serbian first lady Tamara Vucic spoke at the session.
Erdoğan and the forum’s guests then attended a dance show staged by Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar children who were evacuated to Türkiye after the Russia-Ukraine conflict began. They then visited the "Bulletproof Dreams: Paintings by Gazan Children" exhibition.
Separately, participants accompanied the first lady in a handcrafts exhibition created by an institute of Türkiye's Lifelong Learning Directorate catering to women. Later, the first lady hosted a luncheon for her guests, attended by former Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, Eswatini Queen Inkhosikati laNkambule, Turkish Cypriot first lady Sibel Tatar, Serbia’s Vucic, the spouse of the Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina Mirela Becirovic, Diop, Kosovo President’s spouse Prindon Sabriu, Turkish Cypriot prime minister’s spouse Zerrin Üstel, Turkish Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, Tawakkol Karman and other high-ranking names attending the forum.