Women MPs Protest Male Violence with Las Tesis at Parliament

* Photo: Twitter

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) MPs have brought Chilean women's Las Tesis protest to the Parliament. 

Reading out the lyrics of the song, the women MPs of the party have protested both male violence and the police attack against the women staging Las Tesis performance in Kadıköy, İstanbul and in Kızılay, Ankara.

Taking the floor while the budget of the Ministry of Interior was discussed on December 14, CHP İstanbul MP Sera Kadıgil said,

"There is a dance that started in Chile and performed in all parts of the world to draw attention to violence against women. The dance is called Las Tesis.

"Thanks to you, Turkey has become the only country where one has to have immunity to stage this protest. Now, we, as women MPs, have a word to say to you in the name of all women subjected to violence and killed."

After hse uttered those remarks, the MPs read out the lyrics of the song. MPs of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) also supported the protest.

Minister Soylu: Despite the law and Constitution...

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu has denounced the Las Tesis protest of CHP MPs.

Referring to the lyrics of the song "You are the rapist, you are the killer; the police, judges, state and the president", Minister Soylu has said,

"Police killed two women [in Chile]. That was why it started there. So, it did not arise for reasons that you [CHP Group] mentioned. There is no such thing in Germany, but you can make whatever you want out of it. But, it does not mean that you can call the police, judges, state and the President in Turkey as 'rapists' and 'killers'.

"If this problem will be solved by saying these, let the Parliament hear that. If this Parliament says that 'they can continue saying these', then, I am the Minister of Interior and I will use my broadest rights despite the law and despite the Constitution."

Former Family Minister: It is a supra-political issue

* Photo: AA

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Vice Chair and former Minister of Family and Social Policies Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya has also criticized the protest of the MPs. She has said on Twitter,

"One cannot laugh while these incidents are occurring, or even when they are being discussed. It cannot be tool for politics, one cannot amuse oneself. While the issue of women is a supra-political issue that we should deal with all together, these images have deeply wounded me. #LasTesis." (RT/EMK/SD)