http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/origina ... women.html
Their banners read, “Cinderella don’t go to the ball, come march with us,” “Prince Charming on white horse need not knock on my door,” “Found Prince Charming and decided not to marry, got pregnant and decided not to have the baby,” and most of all, they asked for peace. In Ankara, police asked them not to assemble at their original meeting spot. Initially there were more police than women on the streets. Yet remaining calm and replying to the security forces’ calls with songs, the women resisted. One member of Ankara Women’s Platform told Al-Monitor, “Police had to cave in, as our numbers increased and we kept singing and chanting. They finally closed the road and asked us to parade down to another corner. As we did, more women joined us on the road. Initially, male friends offered to come with us, saying they would protect us from the police. We told them, if you guys come, we will not march.”
Interestingly, this issue is precisely what shook social media from the Women’s Day Parade in the Kadikoy district of Istanbul. A 20-second video went viral, which showed a middle-aged woman with a traditional white scarf being pushed by a man who yells at her to “Go home, sit at home, send your men out here.” One of the organizers of the march, Gulsum Agaoglu, a member of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party’s Central Executive Council, told Al-Monitor, “This was a turning point in at least three aspects. First, the security forces told us we must go home. We did not. We split into groups, and then each group became a different section of the parade. We did not disappear, and the security forces did not know how to respond to us. They harassed us with slurs and sexually laden threats, but their tactics failed. Second, this parade received more attention when the security forces said “No slogans.” Now everyone on social media knows at least three words in Kurdish, “Jin Jiyan Azadi” (Woman, Life, Freedom), and the term became a trending hashtag. It symbolized that the west of Turkey is not ignorant to the suffering of Kurdistan. Women from all groups want peace. Third, this is a women’s march. Women are told to stay out of sight, out of mind, not to laugh in public. We demonstrated with our colorful outfits and hopeful chants that there is solidarity among women, that we are visible.”
...i so much admire this other half, Turks, but not "Turks", truly people worthy of high esteem and emulation.
