FEMEN’s Turkey office gets first answer to call for activists

ISTANBUL

Didem Dinç says is a nude art model who is now ready to take her clothes off for FEMEN.

A young Turkish woman has answered a call from FEMEN’s new Turkey office for activism by posting an image of herself with a Turkish flag painted on her bare breasts on Twitter. 
 
The woman, named Didem Dinç, is seen in the picture in a crowded street with the Turkish flag, as well as the words “Savaşa Hayır” (No to War) painted in black on her abdomen.

Dinç said she was a nude art model who was now ready to take her clothes off for FEMEN.
 
“I have taken my clothes off for art for seven years. I have participated in hundreds of exhibitions. And I don’t take offence at getting naked for a new movement in Turkey,” Dinç wrote via Twitter. 

Dinç told daily Hürriyet that she posed for the picture on the crowded Kadife Sokak, a busy entertainment area in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district that is known for its many bars. 
 
She said people on the street encouraged her with cheers and applause. “Of course, my goal was not only to take off my clothes. The goal is not only peace in Turkish society, but in the whole world,” she said. 
 
Dinç also explained that she always wanted to participate in a FEMEN protest. “Now the group has come to Turkey and I participated with huge pride,” she said, adding that the group had messaged her saying they would support her when she faces problems. “They asked me for permission to publish the picture and praised my courage,” Dinç said.
 
Following Dinç’s picture, FEMEN encouraged more activists to join their Turkey office. “Join Didem, Fight for democracy in your country!” the group’s message read.
 
The group released yesterday pictures of a Turkish activist who gave her support to activists protesting against the removal of hundreds of trees to make way for a controversial road passing through the campus of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ).
 
FEMEN has previously conducted several protests in Turkey and signaled earlier that its Turkey office would soon open.