Information

Name Meaning

Amargi means “Freedom” as well as “Return to Mother” in the ancient Sumerian language spoken in southern Mesopotamia until the first century CE. We understand Amargi as an academy of freedom in which we learn and experience life in women’s solidarity.

History

Initially the group Katagi was founded to promote women’s positions and to strive for peace within Turkey. This evolved into the founding of Amargi in 2001. Amargi was founded by a group of feminist activists seeking to create feminist knowledge together and examine society and politics from a feminist point of view.

Mission

Amargi’s mission is to advocate for women’s and LGBT rights in order to build a world without violence and discrimination. Amargi members are from different religions, ethnicities, sexual orientation, and social classes. We strive to all live together in peace and defend the rights of all minorities. It is our open minded world perspective and determination for equality that fuels our activism. With our free and equal world perspective, we strongly support peaceful action and anti-militarism in our organization.

Goals

Amargi is a feminist, anti-hierarchic, anti-nationalist, and anti-militarist organization. We, as members of Amargi, are trying to develop and organize ourselves in a patriarchal society. Our aim is to spread and strengthen feminist theory in order to create alternatives to both the patriarchy and power relations that are intermingled throughout society. These unequal gender relationships violate women’s human rights – both overtly and covertly, in the form of traditions that are thought to be sine qua non in an array of fields. From philosophical theories to political theories, from organization management styles to political perceptions, from approaching knowledge to everyday life, from ways of friendship to love, from arts to language, from clothing to architecture, from law to morality, all are influenced by gender inequality.

Structure

Amargi is open to all women and Trans*. Amargi is an organization independent of government and political parties. We do not want to resemble the system that we are so critical of, so we have no leader, but hold everyone responsible. That means no one decides for anyone. We implement our mission through work groups. Organizational meetings take place every two weeks during which we discuss the structure of Amargi. We make decisions through consensus. Unambiguity is very important to Amargi.

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