The “Platform 25th November”, an alliance of feminist groups, had called for the demonstration. Hundreds of demonstrators, some of them veiled, gathered and chanted “Woman, Life, Freedom” in Turkish and Kurdish. They took up the slogan of the women in Iran who have been protesting against their oppression and the leadership in Tehran for weeks. According to estimates, 120,000 Iranians lived in Turkey in 2021.
A group of demonstrators unfurled a banner in front of a police cordon with the inscription: “We will not give up our freedom, we will not give up our lives, we will not bow down to patriarchal violence.” Other banners called, among other things, not to allow “domestic slavery”.
The police, who do not intervene against those responsible for violence against women, have closed all roads leading to Taksim Square in the name of security, criticized Yesim Tükel from the 25 November platform.
“We are not afraid of this violence: we are here to say that we will not submit and will not remain silent, either before the holy family or before the state,” said activist Burcu Gülcubuk. “This country is ours, this world is ours, the 21st century is the century of women,” she added.
The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is observed on November 25 each year. With most public protests suppressed, women’s and LGBT movements are among the latest to call for large-scale demonstrations in Turkey.
