Las Tesis Protest of Women Prevented by Police in Antalya

* Photo: Twitter / "We want to live"

Click to read the article in Turkish

Attempting to protest male violence and sexual assaults in Antalya by performing the "Las Tesis" dance of Chilean women yesterday (December 29), the Antalya Women's Platform was prevented by the police.

Almost a hundred women came together in front of the Attalos statue on Kazım Özalp Avenue. Opening a banner that read "We want to live", the women wanted to dance in protest against male violence. However, the police did not allow the women to dance due to the lyrics of the song.

As reported by the Artı Gerçek news website, prevented by the police, the women observed a moment of silence for the women who have lost their lives. Afterwards, they read out a statement for the press.

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'We want to lead a free and equal life'

Read out by Devrim Mol on behalf of the Antalya Women's Platform, the statement for the press indicated the following in brief:

"You cannot silence us, you cannot scare us. Because we want to live. We will struggle to lead a free, humanly and equal lie.

"We have gathered here today to do the Las Tesis dance, which started in Chile and spread to the whole world, filing city squares with women and their words. But, today, we are faced with something that is not the case in any part of the world, but prevails in other squares of Turkey as well.

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'They want to silence and intimidate women'

"Let us explain: While this dance means freedom for women, it means disobedience for the state. They stand before us with their all means of pressure, namely with the police, anti-riot water cannon vehicles and bludgeons, with their detentions and penalties.

"While three women are killed everyday, countless women are subjected to harassment and rape on the streets, their labor is exploited at home, they cannot benefit from their right to health and are overwhelmed in the economic crisis and they are subjected to mobbing, they are once again trying to silence and intimidate us women who have revolted and found the solution in women's solidarity and organization.

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'We are targeted'

"We are targeted by the masses feeding upon fascism such as the mainstream media, repressive governors, ministers, MPs, TGB [Youth Union of Turkey] and nationalists. But, they should know that: We have never bowed to pressure and we will not do so.

"You cannot silence us, you cannot scare us. Because we want to live and we will struggle to lead a free, humanly and equal life."

When women tried to protest male violence with a Las Tesis performance in Mersin last Sunday, they were similarly prevented by the police. (RT/SD)