Women took to the streets in Van (Wan) and Diyarbakir (Amed) in Turkey to protest the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention.

Women gathered despite the police barricade at Art Street in Van. The police wanted to stop them on the grounds of the governorship’s “Action and activity ban” that has been going on in Van for 1,602 days. Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Ağrı Deputy Dilan Dirayet Taşdemir spoke and condemned the attacks against women. “We know that beneath every attack against women, there is the aim of ending women’s progress,” she said.

She also noted that the attacks against women are in the form of special war tactics in mostly Kurdish populated cities in Turkey.

Another protest was held in Diyarbakir (Amed). Women surrounded by police from four different points protested the barricade with slogans. Police later stepped back after four hours of resistance by the women.

HDP Women’s Council Spokesperson Ayşe Acar Başaran protested the police’s attitude towards women. “They do not put barricades in front of men, who have been harassing women, killing women. But instead they have been putting barricades in front of women. But we have been calling from Diyarbakir, Amed. Women do not step back. Women do not fear your barricade. Women do not recognise your one-man regime,” she said.