News / Turkey

Turkey police attack Women’s Day protesters

Sunday, 06 March 2016 5:33 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 06 March 2016 6:03 PM ]

Turkish women shout slogans as they carry a banner during a demonstration marking International Women's Day in Ankara on March 6, 2016.

Police in Turkey have fired rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of women staging a demonstration in Istanbul to mark International Women’s Day.

Female protesters gathered at Istanbul’s Kadikoy street on Sunday two days before the official Women’s Day despite a ban by Istanbul governor. One protester was reportedly arrested by riot police.

The protesters chanted slogans and held purple banners, which is the official color of International Women’s Day, demanding better social and economic situations for women.

"We have always said that we would never leave the streets for the March 8 demonstrations and we never will. Neither the police nor the government can stop us," a protester said.

While the Istanbul governor cited security reasons for banning the demonstration, another protester said the ban was a sign of the government’s "desperateness."

"They tried to ban us from demonstrating. We know they won't allow us to demonstrate today but we also know that women will not leave the streets and return home," she added.

Scuffles also broke out in the Turkish capital Ankara, where scores of women staged a demonstration.

Women in Turkey have been struggling for gender equality. The country is ranked 125 out of 140 states in the Global Gender Gap Index 2014.

Only 28 percent of women in Turkey participate in workforce, compared with the average of 63 percent in the European Union.

A 2014 report on domestic violence in Turkey also said that 40 percent of Turkish women had been physically abused at least once in their life.

Female campaigners got angry after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said "women and men are not equal" and his Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu suggested that the best job for women was motherhood.

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