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Ahotsak (Voices) is a women's platform for peace in the Basque Country created in March 2006 following the announcement of the ETA ceasefire, with the aim of delegitimizing violence and demanding dialogue and the development of political projects by exclusively peaceful and democratic means. [1] [2] [3]
It was promoted by a group of women parliamentarians and politicians including Gemma Zabaleta (PSE), Jone Goirizelaia (Batasuna), Kontxi Bilbao (EB), Ainhoa Aznárez (PSN), Nekane Alzelai (EA), Elixabete Piñol (PNV), Gemma González de Txabarri (PNV) and Itzíar Gómez (Aralar). [4] [5]
During 2006, the platform held different events with the aim of bringing together women of different ideologies and sensitivities from Euskadi, Navarre and the French Basque Country and met with groups from the Basque feminist movement and political women's groups from other Spanish autonomous communities. In May 2006, the Plataforma Dones Catalanes per Ahotsak (Catalan Women for Ahotsak Platform), made up of 300 women, including jurist Gemma Calvet and politicians such as Lourdes Muñoz (PSC), Imma Mayol (ICV), Carme Porta (ERC), Mercè Pigem (CiU), was presented in Catalonia to support the Basque women's initiative. [6]
The collective's philosophy was embodied in a document signed by more than 5,000 women presented at a public ceremony at the Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao on 2 December 2006 in which, in addition to accepting the political nature of the conflict, they demanded the participation of women in its resolution, insofar as they also form part of the conflict and proclaimed the need for a political and democratic solution, as well as the right of Basque citizens to decide. [7]
They acknowledged that the process open in Euskadi was not going through its best moment, they advocated looking for meeting points, recognizing in the other the part of truth that assists them and assuming the gender perspective as an unavoidable premise. Women constitute half of the whole community, therefore, we must also be half of the solution, pointed out the document that called for an active role, full and equal with men, as the only way to lay the foundations of a lasting peace and contribute to the creation of a more just, more democratic and more egalitarian society. [8]
Ahotsak presented its proposal as the one that had so far achieved the greatest political, trade union, social and territorial consensus. However, they did not have the support of PP or UPN members.
The position of the socialist women members of the platform within their own formations was not easy, despite the fact that they supported the peace process initiated by the then president of the government, José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero. Sectors of their party criticized them for "appearing accompanied by prominent figures from the world of Batasuna" and showing themselves to be in favor of a dialogued solution to the Basque conflict.
ETA, an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, was an armed Basque nationalist and far-left separatist organization in the Basque Country between 1959 and 2018, with its goal being independence for the region. The group was founded in 1959 during the era of Francoist Spain, and later evolved from a pacifist group promoting traditional Basque culture to a violent paramilitary group. It engaged in a campaign of bombings, assassinations, and kidnappings throughout Spain and especially the Southern Basque Country against the regime, which was highly centralised and hostile to the expression of non-Castilian minority identities. ETA was the main group within the Basque National Liberation Movement and was the most important Basque participant in the Basque conflict.
Basque nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts that Basques, an ethnic group indigenous to the western Pyrenees, are a nation and promotes the political unity of the Basques, today scattered between Spain and France. Since its inception in the late 19th century, Basque nationalism has included Basque independence movements.
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The Basque conflict, also known as the Spain–ETA conflict, was an armed and political conflict from 1959 to 2011 between Spain and the Basque National Liberation Movement, a group of social, terrorist and political Basque organizations which sought independence from Spain and France. The movement was built around the terrorist organization ETA, which had launched a campaign of attacks against Spanish administrations since 1959. ETA had been proscribed as a terrorist organization by the Spanish, British, French and American authorities at different moments. The conflict took place mostly on Spanish soil, although to a smaller degree it was also present in France, which was primarily used as a safe haven by ETA members. It was the longest running violent conflict in modern Western Europe. It has been sometimes referred to as "Europe's longest war".
The 2012 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 21 October 2012, to elect the 10th Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with a regional election in Galicia. Lehendakari Patxi López announced the parliament's dissolution half a year ahead of schedule as a result of the People's Party (PP) withdrawing their support from his government, prompting Galician president Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who had been scheduling a snap election in Galicia to be held at some point throughout late 2012, to make his decision to have a simultaneous vote.
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Abertzale left is a term used to refer to the parties or organizations of the Basque nationalist/separatist left, stretching from democratic socialism to communism.
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