March 8th is not a celebration but a call for justice

Cyprus International University Women and Gender Studies Research Center (WGSRC) organized a panel titled “Making the World Green Again: Women and Life” within the scope of  March 8th International Women's Day in cooperation with the Faculties of Communication and Education.

The panel was held at the CIU Çevik Uraz Center, Conference Hall and the speakers were Müge İplikçi-writer, Prof. Dr. Hanife Aliefendioğlu, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayça Demet Atay and WGSRC Director  Assoc. Prof.  Dr. Mihrican Aylanç. The panel moderator was Vice Dean and the Faculty of Communication Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dilan Çiftçi. 
Speaking at the panel opening, CIU Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Gürkan Doğan, said we are going through difficult times where humanity is being tested by the earthquake disaster.  Dr. Doğan reminded the audience of the event in 1857 that resulted in the  commemoration of  March 8th. Stating that men should be partners in finding the solutions to  the problems women experience, Doğan also said that no fight in history was ever won without women being  involved.

İplikçi, talking about her book titled “Women from the Ruined City”, which she wrote based on her experiences in the Gölcük earthquake, said, “The women who remembered the risky moment I encountered there were in a position  to reconstruct everything.” Noting that the consequences of memory loss are very devastating today, Iplikci said, "If we can follow the pluralizing, feminine risk language of women in order to regenerate life, we can wake up to a completely different geography."

Aliefendioğlu, on the other hand, stated that women were the most affected during the earthquake and disaster processes and made statements about what should be done during this process. Stating that the cities destroyed in the earthquake were tried to be re-established by women who stood in solidarity, Aliefendioğlu also expressed that women's organizations and feminist organizations working in the earthquake area made a big difference.

Atay made statements about the representation of women in the media from the perspective of rights-oriented peace journalism, noting that women are the least represented in the media in the Middle East region, and that only 17% of television, newspaper and radio news cover women. 

In her speech, Aylanç stated that March 8th  was a turning point in women's quest for justice and rights, and said, "We wish that the voice of women can be raised more strongly in this devastating period that we are going through." In her speech, Aylanç included women's voices from world and Turkish literatures and concluded by saying that women have shed light on to the history of civilizations in every age.