From converging roads to narrowing grounds: the struggle for peace by LGBTI+ and women’s organizations in Turkey

This report examines women’s and LGBTI+ organizations’ activism around and conceptions of peace by focusing on the process that aimed to transform the Kurdish issue from a matter of conflict into one of peaceful discussion. The research sheds light on an area that has not been extensively studied before, evaluating efforts focused on the peace process between 2013 and 2015 and the alliances established along the way through the perspectives of the women and LGBTI+ organizations who were actors in the process. Some key concepts used throughout the report are detailed first, and the focus and limitations of the study are described. The policies that shape the peace activism of the LGBTI+ and women’s organizations we interviewed are then examined. This is followed by a chapter focusing on the creative peace activities and achievements of these organizations in the space opened up by the Gezi resistance and enriched by the peace process. Afterwards, the report examines how newly-formed alliances were affected.