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International Women’s Day

Turkish feminists call for solidarity

Saturday 8 March 2014

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Dear friends,

This year on the 8th of March, we as feminists are meeting in Taksim (Istanbul) for the 12th time for our feminist night march. When a group of women first started this march in 2003 in Taksim, they did not imagine that it would reach to thousands of women and transgender people in the years passing by. Taksim has become a symbolic place which we gained through our struggle and where we celebrate our feminist revolt every year. However, this year, we are under threat of police violence in Taksim. Some of you know well, some of you have probably heard of the police blokade in Taksim after Gezi protests, which is still going on.

Below is for our call for solidarity from women and transgender people all around the world. International solidarity is very significant for us at this point. Can you please forward this e-mail to as many activists, feminist and LGBT organizations, and human rights organizations as possible?

What you can do to suport us is:
* You can take photos of solidarity and send them to us (including the message you want to give): feministler@gmail.com
* You can fax , e-mail or tweet to related institutions telling your concerns about the possible police violence in Taksim on the 8th of March signed by your organization name .
Istanbul Governorship : +90 212 512 20 86, bilgi@huseyinavnimutlu.com, https://twitter.com/Valimutlu,https://twitter.com/istanbulvilayet
Ministery of Internal Affairs: +90 312 418 12 60, ozelkalem@icisleri.gov.tr, diab@icisleri.gov.tr,bakanlik.musavirligi@icisleri.gov.tr
Prime Minister’s Office : +90 312 420 66 04,+90 0312 422 18 99 or +90 0312422 26 67 ,bimer@basbakanlik.gov.tr

* You can write your own press statement and announce it to the press in your city, country, etc.
* You can support us sending tweets: ?FK feministler @ifkfeminist (our hashtag for the march is #feministgeceyuruyusu)

This is our short video having scenes from feminist night marches between 2003-2013: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqAzUNG4S68

Can you please inform us about the things you have done so that we can also spread them among our network ?

Thanks in advance for your solidarity,

Istanbul Feminist Collective

We, the women are in Taksim in Istanbul on the 8th of March!

We are, as the women who live in Turkey, shouting our voice on the streets
for 11 years, calling out against patriarchy, against men’s violence,
sexism, heterosexism, capitalism, militarism and war; at the night marches
of 8th of March.

Since the last 8th of March, it has been a year which has passed with an
increasing violence against woman.

Everyday, we are reading another femicide on the news. Everyday three women
are killed in Turkey. The murderers and the rapists receive no punishments.
The state is not trying to stop the violence against women, but try to stop
the divorces.

AKP (Justice and Development Party); which is the government, the legislative and the jurisdiction power at the same time, has taken our right of abortion. We are sent away from
the doors of the public hospitals. It has been limited to reach the
contraceptive methods. The government doesn’t hesitate to step forward in
order to control the women’s body. They are preparing the laws which are
going to condemn us to flexible and insecure work life. Women’s shelters
and information centers in Turkey are very symbolic in number and insufficient. Removing the Ministry of Women, the government formed the Ministry of Family and Social Policy. This new Ministery turns womens’s shelters and information centers into places which protect the family and force women to be obliged to the family.
We, as the women who were on the streets in Gezi Resistance, challenged
to the sexist policies of the state. We directly came across with violence and
sexual harassment of the police while resisting.

This was not the first time, though. The women faced with police violence on the
8th of March celebrations of 2005 in Beyaz?t. The Turkish state has been
condemned by the European Court of Human Rights because of the police
violence in 2005.

Taksim, where we as women in Istanbul go on resisting and existing in spite of the police violence and all the preventions, repeating that " we are not leaving these streets and nights", is now under police blockade. On these streets, where we have been calling out to the world for women’s freedom for 11 years, we are now faced with the threat of the police violence, harrasment and tear gas for the upcoming 8th of March.
The oppression is increasingly going on but we don’t give up resisting and revolting against patriarchy! As we have been for the last 11 years, we are going to be in Taksim on the 8th of March for our night march.

AKP government, which is attacking all fields of our lives, is also trying to take our streets that we walk on. But despite all of the prohibitions we are meeting in Taksim and shouting our voice.

We are calling the women from all around the world, to call out for the
freedom of women, to call out against the possible police violence and for
solidarity; even though they can not be with us in Taksim. We are going to
pass the police barricades in Taksim together.

Let the father come, Let the husband come, Let the police come, Let the
nightstick come!

Delibaretely on revolt! Delibaretely on revolt! Delibaretely freedom!

Istanbul Feminist Collective