Woman cuts hair at Istanbul protest for Iran’s Amini

ISTANBUL

A woman cut her hair on Sept. 21 as dozens of others cheered at a protest held outside Tehran’s Istanbul consulate in solidarity with Mahsa Amini, whose death in Iranian custody sparked mass unrest.

Turkish and Iranian women outside the consulate brandished portraits of 22-year-old Amini, who died last week after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly wearing a headscarf in an “improper” way.

“We are all Mahsa Amini,” read one banner.

“Iranian women’s fight for freedom is our own fight. Long live our international solidarity!” another said.

Nasibe Samsaei, the Iranian woman who cut her hair outside the consulate, was following the example of other women who have joined protests across Iran, in which at least eight have died, according to official figures and human rights groups.

“I couldn’t live in Iran. I couldn’t live as a woman, I couldn’t live as an athlete,” stated a woman who said she came to Türkiye after she was prevented from doing sports in Iran. “They killed our sister at 22 because she wanted to dress just like us.”

“A 22-year-old girl was killed because her hair appeared. As an Iranian woman, I want freedom for all of us,” said Yasemin Ceşmini, another woman who migrated to Türkiye as she was pressured in Iran.

Rüya Kurtuluş from the women’s rights organization leading the protest made a speech in front of the consulate.

“We women all over the world burn inside as Iran’s streets have been burning for days.”

Several other Turkish women rights’ activists cut their hair in messages posted on Twitter.

“The women who resist in Iran will never walk alone,” one of the Twitter posts said.

A large police force was deployed outside the consulate, but the protest ended peacefully, according to an AFP photographer.

Iran has a large diaspora in Türkiye, which was estimated at 120,000 people in 2021.

A rights group said two more protesters were killed, raising the toll to six as public anger has flared in Iran since the authorities announced the death of Amini.