Gurmai: ‘We support Turkey’s EU Accession, but without Erdoğan’

On March 6, Kaos GL was at the European Parliament to receive the 2012 Solidar Silver Rose Award for its contribution to social justice in Europe. Zita Gurmai, a Hungarian MEP, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and President of PES Women, has given the award to Öztop, a representative of Kaos GL.

 

During discussions before and during the ceremony, Gurmai said “Extremisim is an issue in Europe. Things may not look the way they do now. We must get prepared for next elections. Also my county, Hungary, has shown what it means to step back from democracy. The current government tells me I can only get a man as my partner, never a woman; and I cannot stay single either. They are intervening my body and privacy.”

 

She also added, “We support Turkey’s accession to EU, but not with Erdoğan. He is a man telling women to have 3 children. If he wants to take the country to the 19th century, then what he is doing is perfectly fine. But we do not want that in the 21st century.”

 

During the award ceremony, Öztop said: “It is only by luck that I am here enjoying this evening, and not in Turkey like the rest of my team  is. It is also only by luck that Kaos GL is the one sitting here and not any other LGBT organization in the world. This award goes to every LGBT being in this room, outside this room, in Brussels, in Europe, in Turkey and in the world. It also goes to those who died for the body they were born in and for the person they fell in love with.”

 

Other winners of the Solidar Silver Rose Awards for 2012 were Jens Stoltenberg and the People of Norway, Paul Nyrup Rasmussen and Iris Munguia.