Gulala Hasanova — A Symbol of Strength, Love, and Struggle

Gulala Hasanova — A Symbol of Strength, Love, and Struggle On the eve of International Women’s Day, it is impossible not to speak about a woman, a mother of four children, who has become a symbol of struggle in the modern world. Her name is Gulala Hasanova, the wife of civil activist Alisher Sakhadov, who disappeared on July 24, 2025, in the city of Edirne, Turkey. This is the story of a modest, quiet, gentle woman whose life was divided in a single moment into “before” and “after.” Everything changed the day when the police knocked on their door and took her husband to a deportation center — without explanation, promising only that he would return soon. But he never returned. Today is March 7, and there is still no reliable information about his whereabouts. This terrible tragedy became a turning point in Gulala Hasanova’s life. From that moment, she was forced to become strong. And one question inevitably arises: who made her this way? It was the system of dictatorship that made her strong — a system that for years has carried out repression against activists, human rights defenders, and people who dared to become the voice of the people and the voice of justice. Against those who simply exercised their constitutional right to freedom of speech. This harsh reality became the catalyst for her strength. Gulala had to become everything at once: a fighter, a human rights defender, a journalist, a father and a mother in one person. She has to search for her husband, reassure her children, tell them that everything will be fine and that their father will return. She must take care of the family, be their support, their provider, and at the same time face the bitter truth every day. The truth that her husband fought for the rights of thousands of citizens — yet when tragedy entered their own home, too many chose silence and indifference. It is frightening. It is painful. It is unjust. Despair comes. Hands fall in exhaustion. Yet she must gather herself again and keep moving forward — even without knowing where this “forward” leads. Without knowing what the next minute will bring: good news, terrible news, or the most painful thing of all — silence. Where should she look for answers? Which doors should she knock on? Who will listen? There are too few answers. Too much uncertainty. But love, loyalty, the desire to achieve justice, to return a father to his children, and to once again live a happy life with the man she loves — these things do not allow her to break. Even though the struggle within her happens every day, every hour, every minute, every second. Today, Gulala Hasanova is not only the wife of a missing activist. She has become a symbol of struggle, strength, love, loyalty, resilience, and determination. She is a woman whom the system tried to break. But instead, it made her stronger. Stronger. Unbreakable. That is why today we must not remain silent. Do not stay silent. Support. Help. Demand the truth. Knowing where her husband — the father of four children — is located is her legal right. To be with the person she loves is her right. To be happy is her right. And even the right to be vulnerable is her right. On the eve of International Women’s Day, we speak about Gulala Hasanova not only as a woman who has endured a terrible tragedy, but as a woman whose personal pain has transformed into dignity, resilience, and a struggle for truth. Gulala Hasanova is a symbol of the modern woman whom the system failed to break.