The Istanbul police has stopped on Friday evening a large and peaceful March on International women's day with tear gas and barriers. Videos and photos on the opposition Turkish media websites showed coughing people that took refuge in building entrances, or side streets. Also the big newspaper Cumhuriyet reported that tear gas had been used. Some of the Videos in the social media, according to, police officers used rubber bullets fired in front of or against the feet of the protesters.
The disability was unexpected. In the past few years, the authorities had allowed marches for women's rights and against male violence, even during a state of emergency after the coup attempt of 2016. Of the police, there was initially no opinion.
Small protests in other parts of the city
The largest Demonstration for women's day in the city of Istanbul draws normally, the Istiklal shopping street down. This time, the police had cordoned off the street that starts at the Taksim square early in the evening and on top of that. Also, some of the metro stations on the Istiklal street were closed. < p>for A while, and danced the majority of the female protesters to the barriers and demanded, in chants, through singing. Then the police intervened and pushed them apart. Smaller protest actions were later more in side streets or other parts of the city. In the capital, Ankara, a similar protest March was on Friday evening occur more freely.