İstanbul Convention protests: Women close İstanbul's Barbaros Boulevard

Click to read the article in Turkish

Women continue to hold rallies and demonstrations ahead of Turkey's withdrawal from the İstanbul Convention on July 1.

A presidential decision was issued on March 20 for pulling out of the Council of Europe Convention on violence against women.

The Enforce İstanbul Convention Campaign Group held a protest march in Beşiktaş on İstanbul's European side. Protesters closed the Barbaros Boulevard and marched toward the shoreline behind a banner that read "We don't give up on our rights, we don't give up on İstanbul Convention, We revolt on July 1."

CLICK - Impressions from İstanbul Convention rally: 'I was born free and I live freely'

While traffic police were trying to prevent them, women continued the march, saying, "Where were you when women were killed?"

The crowd chanted slogans such as "Enforce the convention," We don't stay silent, we don't obey" and "Jin, jiyan, azadi (life, women, freedom in Kurdish).

When women arrived at the end of the boulevard, police blocked them.

Chanting slogans for a while, protesters then made a short statement, calling women for a protest march in Tunnel Square, Taksim on July 1. (EMK/VK)