We gathered around one table in Beylikdüzü.

We began by listening.

On 26 September, we sat around a table in the garden of the Nostalji Museum in Beylikdüzü. Each of the 19 women who came brought her own story. Some spoke about their work, others about an idea they hoped to realise or experience gathered over the years.

Yasemin brought this table together. She helps with outreach for the BenBiz learning circle and reached the women through an invitation on her own channel. Hakan opened the doors of his museum to us.

There is a difference between thinking about an idea alone and telling it to people who are listening. That day, we made time for one another. Among the ideas shared was a participant’s wish to bring her experience in textiles and design to new work.

The table had its own story.

Emine, a founding partner of ANKA Women’s Cooperative, joined us. Women who produce with the cooperative had prepared food for the table. We tasted the care put into the stuffed vine leaves and kısır together.

When the food ran out, Emine asked a friend for more stuffed vine leaves. One of the women who made them brought another serving. Their taste stayed with us, along with a closer sense of the time and work behind a plate of food.

As we talked about solidarity, a small, familiar example was right in front of us: making something, bringing it and sharing it. Our thanks to every woman who contributed to the table.

Guests in a place someone had dreamed of.

As Hakan Çelik showed us around the museum, he stepped behind the old neighbourhood grocer’s counter. Wearing a cap and apron, he told us about the objects on the shelves. We walked among old school desks, shop fittings and things collected over the years.

A place one person had worked to create had become somewhere we could meet. We talked with Hakan about what we might do together there. We are grateful for his welcome and all he shared.

We are curious about what comes next.

With Şerif, Elif and Rabia joining us, we also talked about learning. We shared questions and thoughts, and spoke about what we are trying to build at BenBiz and what we hope to learn from the work we have begun.

As Yasemin put it, women’s solidarity sometimes begins simply by sitting at the same table: listening to someone, noticing their work and saying, “I am here.” We see this gathering as the first meeting of a women’s solidarity circle.

Time will show what grows from these introductions. Thank you to everyone who brought an idea, experience or something they had made. When we take another step, we will share its story here.