Alirza Quluncu, Voice of America, October 15, 2022
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| Turkan Bozkurt |
Feminist activist Turkan Bozkurt discussed the ongoing mass protests in Iran, led by women, that have been taking place for four weeks, in an interview with Voice of America.
According to Bozkurt, although these protests may not result in political change in Iran, they will bring about significant societal changes. She emphasizes that Iran will no longer be the same as it was before these protests.
Bozkurt says that the young people and teenagers participating in the street protests across different regions of Iran know very well what kind of life they want to live:
"These children, these young people, whether in Turkey, Azerbaijan, or the Western media, have grown up with them. They know about the freedoms there. Maybe they know them even better than those in the West. But they can't experience any of those freedoms... These are not the generation that saw the Iran-Iraq war, who had fears and diminishing energy. These are energetic and at the beginning of their lives. They know what kind of life they want to live. What they want is a peaceful life. They are not fighting alone in their corner or sitting alone. They are trying to come together to build a peaceful future. That's why people from different parts of Iran are joining this movement."
Turkan Bozkurt highlights that this is the first time young people and teenagers have played such an active role in Iranian politics and adds, "This means that Iran will no longer be the old Iran. Even if it is not a politically revolutionary change, it means the society will go through significant transformations."
The feminist activist points out that the current protests are addressing issues faced by a wider range of people compared to previous mass actions.
"Until now, protests in Iran have been related to the problems of different people. But in the current protests, for the first time, we see so many people from different groups coming together," says the activist from Urmia, who lives in Toronto, Canada.
She expresses that the issue of women is a matter for all ethnic communities in Iran:
"The issue of the hijab or the degradation of women is something all cultures in Iran have experienced firsthand, whether it's Turks, Baluchis, Lurs, or Persians. Of course, if we look at this from a cross-sectional or intersectional feminism perspective, the problems faced by a Turkish woman and a Persian woman are not the same. For example, while a Persian woman's problem might be the hijab, a Turkish woman's problem also includes the language issue. The hijab issue creates pressure on people's lives to varying degrees in different places."
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Türkan Bozqurt: İran artıq etirazlardan öncəki İran olmayacaq