Thousands of women held a rally here on Saturday under the slogan "Women's Revolt Will Change the World." The rally's goal was to show support for women's rights and to protest violence against women, misogyny, sexual harassment, femicide and gender inequality.
According to the organizers, some 4,500 women took part in the march. Riot police prevented the demonstrators from reaching their planned destination, Guven Park.
The rally was joined by representatives of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party who were carrying slogans in Kurdish, some of which are banned from use in Turkiye, because they are associated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party. Representatives of the Labour Party also rallied, and so did members of trade unions such as the Confederation of Public Employees' Trade Unions, Education and Science Workers' Union, Buro Emekcileri Sendikasi.
The protesters were chanting: "We will not be silent, we will not be afraid, we will not submit," while carrying placards that read: "We will not give birth to three children, but we will revolt" and "This is not the year of the family, it is the year of the fight." The latter is a reference to the Turkish government's decision to declare 2025 the Year of the Family.
The demonstrators opposed Turkiye's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, which took place in July 2021, a few months after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's decision. The Convention is an instrument in the fight against violence against women.
Violence against women remains a major problem in Turkiye. According to anitsayac.com, 445 women were killed in violent crimes in 2024. Another 69 have been killed since the beginning of 2025.
/NZ/
