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| Simin Sabri |
Simin Sabri emphasizes that the challenges women face in nationalist movement organizations are not only related to those organizations but also to society’s and the government's views on women. In an interview with Voice of America, the spokesperson for the Southern Azerbaijan National Democratic Union discussed the role of women in the national movement and its affiliated organizations.
“I believe that if we separate our expectations of the National Movement from the context and structure in which it is taking place and place them higher, we will face disappointment. Generally, as long as the issue of women is not seen as a public matter but rather as an issue against men, we will be disappointed,” Sabri stated.
She added, “I do not limit these problems in the national movement solely to Southern or Northern Azerbaijan or the Turkish nation. This is a global issue. Of course, it is more prevalent in underdeveloped countries... There are many problems here that are not even related to religion but stem from old customs and traditions. It could also be due to women being physically weaker…”
Simin Sabri pointed out that the development of society in terms of language rights and national consciousness does not necessarily mean progress in other areas, including gender equality:
“This movement is taking place on a certain ground, and it is driven by people who brought it to this level. These people may have a national consciousness, a desire for a beautiful society, language freedom, and living with their culture. Just because there is national awakening at this level does not mean we can claim that there is awakening in every regard.”
The Turkish activist and psychiatrist, who lives in Norway, further added, “Even among academically educated national activists, when the issue of women arises, they write sentences like, ‘Everything is solved, we only have the hairpin issue left.’ They see the issue of women as something ornamental, like a hairpin. They say, ‘Let’s achieve our national goals, and then we’ll give something to women.’ I compare this to the Iranian opposition. They would say, ‘Let’s overthrow this regime first, and then we’ll give something to ethnic communities, open classes in their native languages.’ Until we think this way, we will have a lot of work ahead of us. I think we need to address this step by step, gradually.”
Simin Sabri also expressed that implementing positive discrimination in Southern organizations for the benefit of women would be helpful.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Simin Səbri: Qadın məsələsinə bir baş darağı kimi, bəzək kimi baxırlar.