İstanbul Women’s Council Formed

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Women coming together with the motto "Don't Interfere in the Way I Dress" have announced that an İstanbul Women's Council has been established.

The women had first gathered in Maçka Democracy Park in İstanbul on August 6 with the same slogan and had organized a picnic and a women's forum.

The proposal to establish İstanbul Women's Council was voted and accepted in this forum and the Council made its establishment public today via a statement noting:

"If we as women don't make the decisions regarding our lives ourselves, they will allow themselves to speak on our behalf each time.
"That is why we decided to form İstanbul Women's Council where we can come together, talk and make decisions together".

In the declaration, it has been decided that the Council comes together once in every month and that all the women in the council have an equal voice and search together for solutions to the problems of all the women.

"We will not allow any interference in what any woman wears"

Stating that they would oppose to the draft which makes some amendments on civil registry services, the council pointed out that they would fight against all attacks carried out against women on the pretext of the way they dress.

Referring to the above mentioned amendments which in particular grant muftis* the authority to perform a civil marriage, the council noted:

[...] this is a practice which besides paving the way for forced juvenile marriages, can also be taken as a reference in many legal actions which then would be carried out on the grounds of opinions of religious authorities and therefore shake the foundations of secularism.

*A mufti is an Islamic scholar who interprets and expounds Islamic law are also qualified to give authoritative legal opinions known as fatwas.

(ÇT/DG)