Turkey riot police break up women’s rights march in Ankara

ANKARA/ ISTANBUL

Police on March 4 fired tear gas to break up a women’s rights march in the capital Ankara, with some 15 protesters reportedly detained. 

The protesters, mainly from the Ankara Women’s Platform, an NGO promoting women’s rights, had gathered in the center of the city for the rally, called ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8.

“We are getting stronger in solidarity,” read one banner as riot police moved in and fired tear gas after the group ignored calls to disperse, AFP photographers at the scene said.

The 15 women detained were later released by police, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

The disrupted protest in Ankara coincided with another rally in Istanbul, where around 1,500 women gathered in the Bakırköy district on the European side of the city.

The police took security measures prior to the event, organized by March 8 Women’s Platform, searching everyone who entered the Bakırköy Freedom Square (“Özgürlük Meydanı”) where the rally took place.

The rally, supported by a number of rights NGOs in Turkey, was also attended by the Kurdish-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Pervin Buldan, HDP group deputy chair Filiz Kerestecioğlu, HDP deputy Hüda Kaya and Labor Party co-chair Selma Gürkan.