Feminist Night Marches were held in several cities on Mar 8 to mark International Women’s Day.
In İstanbul, the 24th Feminist Night Walk took place despite heavy police presence and closed public transportation in the central Taksim area. Demonstrators gathered on Sıraselviler Avenue and marched toward the Cihangir quarter, chanting slogans and holding banners.
'Our liberation is feminism'
A large banner reading “Our liberation is in feminism” led the crowd, which included women and LGBTI+ participants. Throughout the march, slogans such as “We won't give up the night, the streets, or the squares,” “Jin, jiyan, azadî” (“Woman, life, freedom”), and “The world would shake if women were free” echoed through the streets. Demonstrators drew attention to male violence, poverty, and war, framing their message as a “feminist uprising.”
Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları and Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK) co-spokesperson Meral Danış Beştaş also joined the walk.
#İstanbul8Mart 🟣 24. #FeministGeceYürüyüşü açıklamasından:
— bianet (@bianet_org) March 8, 2026
📢 "Bugün bu alana polis barikatlarını aşarak, uzun yollar yürüyerek geldik. Neden mi? Çünkü hepimiz kurtuluşumuzun feminizmde olduğunu, bu dünyada var olmak için tek seçeneğimizin feminizm olduğunu biliyoruz."
📹… pic.twitter.com/5loZDdsZGC
After about an hour, participants lit torches near the Cihangir multi-story car park, chanting, “There is no liberation alone, either all together or none of us.”
The event concluded with a statement by the organizing committee, delivered in Turkish, Kurdish, and Arabic.
The statement declared, “We say our liberation is in feminism. Liberation is only possible together, through feminist solidarity. We learned from feminism that it is possible to build a life of peace, equality, and justice without enmity. Long live our feminist struggle!”
Six detained
During the event, six people were detained and later released. In a separate gathering held earlier in the day in the Kadıköy district on İstanbul’s Asian side, one activist was also briefly detained.
The Feminist Night March social media account criticized the detentions, stating, “We reclaimed our friends who were detained after the march, where we raised our feminist struggle and rebellion with tens of thousands of women. We won’t give up the night, the streets, or the squares.”
Marches also took place in Ankara, İzmir, Adana, Mersin, Antalya, and Kocaeli, where women carried banners and chanted slogans calling for an end to violence, war, and poverty, and demanding peace, freedom, and justice. (VK)
