The meeting organized by the Migration and Diaspora Foundation's Women's Diaspora Communications Directorate was held at the Neslişah Culture Center in Fatih, Istanbul. The program was attended by women representatives of numerous civil society organizations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sudan, Syria, Egypt, East Turkestan, Palestine, and Türkiye.
At the meeting, the Migration and Diaspora Foundation's Head of Women's Communications, Müzeyyen Taşçı, made a joint press statement drawing attention to the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Gaza. Emphasizing in her statement that they are the voice of the mothers of Gaza, Taşçı said: "Our aim is to announce to the entire world this great tragedy etched into the history of humanity, by transforming it into a rising outcry."
In her speech, Taşçı stated the following:
"What is happening in Gaza is no longer merely the result of a war, but the shared responsibility of all humanity. In this region, women—and mothers in particular—bear the invisible burden of war. The mothers of Gaza, who have been forced to bury their children, who have lost their hopes in the rubble of demolished homes, and who have been deprived of their basic rights to life, are witnesses silently resisting on one of the darkest pages of history."
Noting that as Mother's Day approaches celebrations will be held in many parts of the world, but that for Palestinian mothers this day is a day of mourning, Taşçı said: "Motherhood in Gaza is woven not only with love, but with patience, resilience, hunger, cold, fear, and loss."
Recalling that 70 percent of those who lost their lives in Israel's attacks on Gaza were women and children, Taşçı made the following appeal:
"Every mother's heart carries the tears of a mother in Gaza. This shared pain unites us; this silent cry transcends all borders. This is a moment in which not just one region, but humanity itself, is being tested. Together we must cry out that violence against women, violations against children, and the disregard for basic rights to life cannot be legitimized. For if the voice of the mothers of Gaza is not heard, then no mother's tears are safe."
A Testimony from Gaza: "They Are Struggling Against Hunger"
Doaa Kordia, who took the floor at the meeting and who migrated from Gaza to Türkiye because of the war, also extended her thanks to all the institutions providing aid under AFAD coordination, foremost among them President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Expressing that, although she is physically in Türkiye, her heart is still in Gaza, Kordia stated that the mothers of Gaza are struggling to survive under extremely difficult conditions. Kordia said the following:
"Mothers carry the anxiety of being able to feed their children. With the very limited and modest means available to them, they try to prepare their children for life. They struggle against hunger and resist to survive. So much so that some have been forced to eat animal feed. Fear and violence have become an inseparable part of daily life for the mothers of Gaza."
