In their online campaign, women from the Women's Peace Initiative in Turkey are asking for support with the rebuilding of towns in the Kurdish region in Turkey, destroyed during recent conflict.
This is their message for the #Room4Life campaign on crowdfunding platform INDIEGOGO:
"We are women from the Women’s Peace Initiative in Turkey. We are concerned about the fate of families who have been displaced as a result of the destruction caused by the Turkish Armed Forces in towns in the Kurdish region in their drive to oust the Kurdish militia. We are asking you for support to rebuild the lives of those displaced by this war."
"Over the last three months 21 neighbourhoods in 7 towns of the Kurdish region in the Southeast of Turkey have been under curfew and have sustained devastation that can only be compared to that of Dresden during WWII or, more recently, Kobanê in Northern Syria. Human rights organizations and political parties active in the region maintain that 274 people have been killed in Cizre since July 2015. 167 of these were bombed, burned and dismembered in basements they had taken refuge in. In Silopi, a border town between Iraq and Turkey, 42 people have lost their lives since July 2015. More than 30 people lost their lives in the Sur district of Diyarbakır – only in this latest curfew that has been in place over more than 95 days."
"Among those killed are six-month-old babies and 71-year-old men and women – this has been documented numerous times, dispelling allegations that all are combatants. Currently, it seems that the state is ready to regard anyone who remains in these neighbourhoods as enemies who may be subjected to all kinds of violence without question. Furthermore, it is also a fact that torturing, burning and dismembering people, refusing to allow their bodies to be buried are illegal practices for a state to engage in – regardless of whether these people are combatants or not."
So far the campaign has raised $3,990 USD in 8 days, which is 4% of their $100,000 goal.
To support the campaign, and find out more, click here.