The only battle you will lose is the one that you have quit

I certainly do not feel defeated, because if there was a war going on, I was not on a side in that war. I do not see myself as on a side in the election war; I rather see myself in a struggle. If I am supposed to be on a side, then I am on the side of struggle. 

I was struggling for the same thing yesterday; today I am struggling again for the same thing. And I will be struggling for the same thing tomorrow. 

If you ask me what I am struggling for… 

My fight is for writing the truth, saying the truth and spreading the truth.

It is to defend the rights of workers who are left without air 20 meters below ground, the ones that are piled up and transported in trucks, to be the voice of their families. 

It is to protect the right to life of women who are treated as second class citizens, for them to be empowered in the family, in the work place and in society. 

It is for homosexuals who are considered non-existent to be visible, for them to be considered equal to all others, for them to be able to live without pressure, without having to hide their identities.

It is to protect nature that is being massacred cruelly and ignorantly, with a development mentality which is empty inside… 

It is to call to account the rights of those killed by a police bullet, by beating, by sticks. It is to broaden the boundaries of freedom for those people who are wished to stop talking, even thinking. It is to lift the obstacles in front of those people who cannot live their lives according to their beliefs, their sects. 

It is for people not to be blacklisted, to stop putting a cross at the buildings they reside in and for them to conduct their funeral services wherever they wish to. 

It is to assist those who are threatened because of their lifestyles, for them not to make concessions. 

For children to live their childhoods, for them not to work under unlawful conditions, for them not to be drowned in creeks…

The struggle is to stop raising vengeful and pious generations.

It is for the new generations to be able to walk on the path of science and technology, to take this country forward. 

It is for culture and arts not to be defeated under auto-censure…

The struggle is for the reconciliation of numerous communities in this country, for the communal peace to take root in this land…

It is for hidden realities to be brought to the surface, for those who need to apologize to apologize, for those who should be called to account to be called to account.

I am struggling together with thousands of people, together with hundreds of my colleagues, for all these…

As long as I live, whoever becomes the government in this country, no matter with what percentage, it does not even cross my mind that I will quit this struggle. 

Governments come and go. I am not going to quit because it has become more difficult. 

With more strength, with more reliance and with no trace of quitting I will continue to stand by the one who is right, to defend their rights as my rights and to work for those rights that are not given. 

The Saturday Mothers who, for 21 years, with determination, meet every week in solidarity with each other, waiting in search of the remains of their loved ones. 

This is the quote from the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo tracking their disappeared, lost and murdered children in Argentina: “The only battle you will lose is the one that you have quit.”