Around 6,000 women walked through Kadkköy, a district on the Asian side of Istanbul, and congregated at Kadıköy square yesterday (8 March) to mark International Women’s Day.
The 8 March Women’s Platform carried placards and shouted slogans, saying “We will resist the patriarchal capitalist system. We insist, we are decided.”
Against male oppression and violence
One of last year’s slogans was also recycled. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had exhorted families to “have three children”, to which the women protesters had replied, “Look at me PM, […], breed yourself, one, two, three Turks”.
This year also saw a reaction to popstar and TV presenter İbrahim (İbo)Tatlıses, who had insulted an invited guest, singer Yıldız Tilbe, on his live show, saying he had rescued her from pimps. The slogan was “One, two, three, four, ok, I cannot stand İbo.”
A further slogan had a pointed reference to PM Erdoğan’s statement in Davos, when he said to Israel’s President Shimon Peres, “You are good at killing.” Women protesters shouted, “You powers, you men, you are good at killing, harrassing, raping, murdering, being provoked and getting reduced sentences,” the latter two a criticism of the judicial system which has allowed reductions in sentences for violence against women for certain “provocations”.
The square was filled with green, red and purple flags. Throughout the rally, Kurdish, worker and feminist women spoke out against male dominance over their identities, bodies and labour.
A vote for hope
Saime Ülfet Taylı Taş, independent mayoral candidate for the Istanbul district of Beyoğlu, also attended the rally, and the Feminist Collective called on women to vote for her:
“This will be an important step towards reorganising the spaces and the city we live in according to women, and not only according to women, but also a step towards our dream of forming a society where no social group and no class is oppressed, exploited or marginalised.”
Pınar Selek from the Amargi Women’s Collective told bianet, “We are experiencing bad times. But the best thing is to be able to struggle together for good things. Today, I felt this once againé
Journalist Berat Günçıkan said that her message for the day was equality, freedom and peace.
"Enough"
Sabahat Tuncel, Istanbul MP for the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) was wearing a purple regional costume. She told bianet, “Tens of thousands of women have gathered in squares in many places in Turkey. Women are saying ‘edi bese/yeter’ (‘enough’ in Kurdish and Turkish) of hunger and poverty due to the crisis and enough of war. At the same time, women are showing that they can struggle with patriarchal culture if they organise. The issue is not only coming together here; the fact that these women are in the square is a symbol of rebellion and resistance.”
Flower seller denied a living
Roma flower seller Ayşegül also wanted to speak: “They do not let us experience our womanhood, so how can we feel like women? We have been selling flowers here (in Kadıköy) at the ferry pier for the last 50 years, and now the municipality has taken away our stalls. Now we sell them in the street, and they come and take our flowers. As a woman, I want to earn my living, but they do not let me.”
We asked her what she would have done on the day if she had managed to sell all her flowers. Ayşegül said, “I would not have worked, but put on nice clothes, gone out with my friends, joined some rallies, had some tea. But we have no such luck. We have to work, even illegally, otherwise we go hungry.”
After 3 pm, the women’s rally ended and a second rally, this time also participated in by men, took place. (EZÖ/AG)
Click here for photos of the rally.
Click here for a video of the rally.
*Video by Serap Altun.
