'We are not afraid, we resist,' say women in İstanbul

* Photos: Evrim Kepenek / bianet

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Ahead of March 8 International Women's Day, women from all around İstanbul came together in Kadıköy district upon the call of the İstanbul March 8 Women's Platform today (March 6). Women started to gather in İskele Square at 3.30 p.m. despite heavy rainfall.

While women were searched before being admitted into the square, LGBTI+ cortege and LGBTI+ symbols, even umbrellas in rainbow colors, were not allowed in the square by the police for a long time.

Minute-by-minute developments were as follows:

4.38 p.m: The March 8 Women's Platform read out the March 8 statement in Turkish, Kurdish and Arabic. Reading out the statement in Turkish, Nazlı Andan said, "We are the women who defend their cities in the face of trustees' male-state violence against women's gains for years!"

Andan added, "We are together for our freedom, we will win our freedom. We will rule our lives, campuses and cities."

NOTE: You can find the longer version of the statement below.

LGBTI+ cortege not allowed in for a long time

4.28 p.m.: Not allowed in the square for a long time, the LGBTI+ cortege was allowed in. Women met the cortege with enthusiasm.

4.17 p.m.: Police officers entered the square and intervened against the LGBTI+ cortege that wanted to join the rally. While women chanted slogans in support of the LGBTI+, the Purple Solidarity cortege also said, "They do not allow us into the square because we had rainbow flags. We don't hush, we don't obey!"

4.05 p.m.: LGBTI+ symbols and even umbrellas in rainbow colors were not allowed in the square. Women chanted the slogans, "Open, open, open." They also performed folk dances in the square.

3.55 p.m.: It was seen that the police took tight security measures in the square. Women were allowed in the square after being searched.

It was previously announced that LGBTI+ flags and rainbow symbols would not be allowed in upon the decision of the Governor's Office.

'We will rule our lives, campuses'

On behalf of March 8 Women's Platform, the joint statement in Kurdish was read out by Şenay Kumuz, the one in Turkish was read out by Nazlı Andan and the one in Arabic was read out by Cemile Baklacı.

The statement of the women has emphasized that women have not put aside solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying, "As the women all across the world from Latin America to Europe, from South Asia to the Middle East, our revolt is ongoing despite the pandemic."

Referring to the students' and academics' protests against Prof. Melih Bulu, the appointed rector of Boğaziçi University, women have said:

"Today, we are the women who are defending our universities against the trustees, saying, 'We want the elected, not the appointed' at Boğaziçi. We are the women who are defending our cities in the face of trustees' male-state violence against women's gains for years."

"We are together for our freedom, we will win our freedom. We will rule our lives, our campuses and our cities," women have stressed.

'We are struggling for our rights'

Referring to the hardships faced by women workers as well, the statement has read, "We are the women who say, 'Our lives belong to us' in the face of unending and unpaid overtime work in the name of working from home; we are the domestic workers who are confined to the houses where we work during the pandemic and some of whom are left unemployed for months."

"We are the women who are struggling for their labor, job safety and rights all around İstanbul," women have said further.

'We will not give up on İstanbul Convention'

The statement of the İstanbul March 8 Women's Platform has also referred to the İstanbul Convention and the Law no. 6284 on the Protection of Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women.

"We are the women who say 'You are to blame' to the men-state, who do not enforce the İstanbul Convention, the Law no. 6284 or the prevention and protection orders," women have protested.

Raising concerns over the impunity for perpetrators of male violence, women have said, "We are the women who see that women are disappeared by the hand of the state and who never give up on one another."

"We join our voices with our fellow women who are held captives because they defended their lives in the face of male violence," the statement has read further, briefly adding, "We are here for all women who have been struggling for a free and equal life without violence and who have been confined to houses and districts with shackles."

"We will win our freedom," women have said, "Because we will win our freedom to claim our words, organization, struggle and lives."

'We resist together with LGBTI+s'

Amid mounting discrimination and hate speech targeting the LGBTI+ community in Turkey, women have further said:

"We are the LGBTI+s who are attempted to be disregarded and targeted by the state, but do not give up saying, 'Get used to it, we are here, we are everywhere', even for an instance."

"We are the LGBTI+s struggling against heteropatriarchy and assigned identities with our elected loves; we are together.

"We are struggling together in the face of state violence and state-led displacement targeting all LGBTI+s, especially trans people."

'We don't fear torture of strip search'

Women have also raised concerns about strip search in Turkey, saying, "We don't fear being captivated, we don't fear strip search tortures."

"We have not been intimidated by the execution and massacres of ISIS or the ones carried out by the state with the same methods; we have not been intimidated by male-state violence," women have said.

"We are raising our struggle so that hunger strikes will be heard on their 100th day, so that we can foster solidarity; we are raising our struggle for the women captivated with their children and for the ill prisoners who have still not been released," they have added further.

'We will keep on being on the streets'

Concluding their statement, women have said:

"On every March 8 for years, we have been filling the streets against labor exploitation, unemployment, precarity, male-state violence, LGBTI+ phobia, racism, seizure of will and injustice.

"We are raising our revolt, rage and struggle against fascism, patriarchy, male-state violence, ecological destruction, capitalism, labor exploitation and palace regime everywhere this year as well.

"We are together, on March 8 and everyday, to win our freedom and defend our lives; we will keep on filling the squares and streets." 

(EMK/PT/SD)