Protesters in Turkey on International Women's Day demand protection from domestic violence

Thousands of women took to the streets of Turkish cities today to mark International Women's Day and protest against inequality and violence against women.

At a rally in Kadikoy on the Asian side of Istanbul, members of dozens of women's groups listened to speeches, danced and sang in the spring sunshine. The protests were monitored by a large number of police, including those in riot gear, and a water cannon.

The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared 2025 the Year of the Family.

The protesters opposed the idea of ​​limiting women's roles to marriage and motherhood, carrying banners reading "We will not be sacrificed to the family."

Critics accuse the government of overseeing restrictions on women's rights and not doing enough to combat violence against women.

In 2021, Erdogan withdrew Turkey from a European treaty, called the Istanbul Convention, that protects women from domestic violence.

The Turkish platform "We Will Stop Femicide" says that men killed 394 women in 2024.

Many women are expected to gather in the evening on the European side of Istanbul for a feminist night march, despite the ban. In recent years, authorities have blocked attempts by women to demonstrate in Taksim Square, Istanbul's traditional rallying point for protests.

Nearby metro stations have been closed since early afternoon, and streets, including one of the city's main shopping streets, have been blocked by barricades.

The Beyoglu district governor's office said the ban was issued to prevent activities that could disrupt public order and peace.

Today's Women's Day gatherings are the first planned public demonstrations since the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) declared a ceasefire last week, bringing hope for an end to the 40-year conflict with the Turkish state.

The crowd in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast, heard a message from the group's imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, in which he said that "the women's issue is bigger than the Kurdish issue."

Gultan Kisanak, a Kurdish politician who was released from prison last year, where she was on terrorism charges, addressed a rally near the city center.

"A democratic society that does not accept the will of women cannot be built. Therefore, women's struggle for freedom is the cornerstone of our people's struggle for freedom and peace," she said.