Feminist gathering in Istanbul ahead of 8 March
Hundreds of women activists gathered on Sunday in Istanbul's Kadikoy district ahead of 8 March international Women's Day.
The demonstration, attended by representatives of many feminist groups and associations, was staged despite attempts by the police to cordon off the area.
While the demonstrators had to go through search at several check points, banners of LGBT groups were not allowed in.
Binlerce kadın Kadıköy'de buluştuk.
— 8 Mart Kadın Platformu (@8MPlatformu) March 5, 2023
Sesimizi kısmaya çalışanlara cevabımız net: Susmuyoruz, korkmuyoruz, itaat etmiyoruz!#5MarttaKadıköydeyiz pic.twitter.com/4UcPMNSLXJ
The women chanted, "We won't be silenced, we won't be intimidated, we will not submit," and in protest against the government's failures in responding to the earthquakes on 6 February: "This is not fate but a massacre."
The representatives called for the implementation of Istanbul Convention, denounced by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in March 2021, across Turkey and particularly in provinces hit by the earthquakes.
A speaker read out a public statement that said:
"We've gathered here with all our raging anger in the face of femicide, in the face of poverty and starvation imposed through rising bills on thousands of women, against state-backed violence targeting LGBTi people, in the face of growing female unemployment, militarism encouraged by war policies, increasing racist attacks against migrant women."
The statement was read out in Turkish, Kurdish and Arabic.
