The announcement arrives just a day ahead of the event on March 8, which has seen participation from thousands of people in Istanbul for almost two decades, but the local government has moved to banned the event in recent years.

The Governor’s Office cited the ban as being in accordance with Law No. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations and said it also included any statements to the press, according to Evrensel.

Istanbul police last year briefly detained over 15 people who took part in the march. The group faced investigation on charges of “insulting the president” in connection to the slogans they chanted in the protest.

Organizers of the march have announced that they will go ahead with the demonstration tomorrow despite the ban.

“We have walked for 19 years and will walk on the 20th year, too” the organisers said in a tweet on Monday.

Last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pulled Turkey out of the Istanbul Convention on women’s rights, in a move that has sparked heavy criticism by Turkey’s Western allies and led to protests across the country.

Turkey has in recent years registered an escalation in violence against women and LGBT persons in the country, with the violent murders of several women shaking the nation.

Turkey ranks 69th out of 162 countries in the United Nations’ Gender Inequality Index, and 130th in the Global Gender Gap Index.