Opposition parties mark international women’s day

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Main opposition CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu gives carnations to women workers at a textile workshop in Istanbul’s Küçükçekmece’s district yesterday. DAILY NEWS photo, Hasan ALTINIŞIK

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu celebrated March 8, International Women’s Day in a textile atelier together with women workers in Istanbul’s Küçükçekmece’s district. Kılıçdaroğlu gave carnations to the women and then had lunch with them.

“Women paid heavy prices for their rights. They demand a fair world for both men and women. They righteously demand insurance and equal-pay, but Turkey still has problems on these matters. Also their employers experience difficulties, our desire is to solve them,” Kılıçdaroğlu said. Kılıçdaroğlu spoke to women about working conditions in the atelier where 35 textile workers employed.

Separately, independent deputy Levent Tüzel submitted a draft bill to make March 8 an official holiday, which would allow working women to attend March 8 demonstrations without the permission of their bosses.

Diyarbakır independent deputy Leyla Zana also delivered carnations to women police officers in Diyarbakır. When a policewoman refused to take her flower, Zana said: “Today is women’s day, you are a woman too, not just a police officer.” The police officer then accepted the carnation, according to a Doğan News Agency report.

Zana went on to make a speech in Silvan district’s Azizoğlu Square in Kurdish, saying men could not survive without the efforts of women.

“Women have cooked for men for thousands of years. Enough is enough. If men think it over, they will see the devotion of women. Men have to recognize what their mothers and spouses do for them,” Zana said.

Women branch head of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Şenay Şenel also celebrated March 8 in a press statement.

Meanwhile, women’s organizations held a rally in Ankara yesterday. “Sexual abuse and rape probes should be based on a woman’s claim. Medical-legal investigation should be abolished in such probes. The Ministry of Family and Social Policies should be renamed the Ministry of Women and Family Affairs. March 8 should be an official holiday,” the press release for the rally read.