Van - Gün 1

Van, a modern Turkish city
We were headed to Van, to start filming Sharon's documentary. She received a small grant to do research on "The Affect of Islam on Women's Rights in Turkey."


A mountain peaking into the city
So, Lisa, Sharon, and I showed up in Van around noon (only a 2 hour plane ride...or a 21 hour bus ride) and checked into the Büyük Asur Oteli. Old Van had been destroyed after a fight with the Armenians during WWI, and the new Van was established 3km from that site. It is sort of dirty, with approximately a 30% unemplyment rate. Throughout the town were road signs for Iran. We were maybe 6 hours from the border.

In an hour we were off with our guide, the Chief of the Neonatology Division at Yüzüncü Yıl University Hospital. He was the colleague of a Van pediatrist who was the friend of a doctor in Ankara, who was boyhood friends with a client of Sharon's husband. Complicated.


Zoza, by Lisa Holliday
First, we talked to an enthusiastic woman, Zoza, from the Van Kadın Derneği. The next day was the kick off to the group's "anti-violence" campaign. Zoza exemplified a modernized Turkish/Kurdish woman in every way: she was from a tribe, educated as an accountant in Northern Cyprus. She had gone through a divorce which her family had supported and was now in Van, as the only English speaker of her woman's group (and a writer for the Flying Broom, a group that connects Turkish women's organizations).

We set up the video camera and she talked for hours. We went through many rounds of çay as she recalled various stories from the group's past: Lawyers who ask young girls why they married at the age of 13; Women who couldn't leave an abusive husband without legal help; In-laws pushing wives into open ovens; Illegal marriages performed by Imams; Families forcing a girl to marry her rapist; Mothers not allowing their daughters to attend school; Religious-approved temporary marriages; Honor killings; Marriages to relatives; and too many other atrocities.

Of course, it's easy to assume this active feminist was exaggerating to make a point, but that's what tomorrow is for...

Zoza's group was very active. They held meetings with other Van women's organizations, coordinated events in neighboring villages and cities, gave legal help, and held job training/placement workshops.


We ate dinner at the Van Kadın Derneği's all-female run restaurant. It was the first time a waitress delivered our food. Female chefs, too. Traditional Turkish food. The Doctor bought a doll with clothing sewn by local women for his 2 month old daughter.