Istanbul – Women continue to take to the streets to protest Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention. The decision is to come into force on 1 July. Avcılar Women’s Platform members blocked traffic on Cumhuriyet Avenue of Istanbul’s Avcılar district. Police attempted to prevent women however, women continued to block the traffic and they called for participation in a protest to be held at the tunnel in Istanbul’s Taksim Square on July 1.

“We don’t give up our right to free life”

After the protest, women issued a statement on Marmara Avenue. “This convention belongs to us. Thousands of women, including Nahide Opuz, struggled for this convention. We call on everyone to raise their voice everywhere. We don’t give up our right to free life,” the women said in the statement.

The women ended their protest by shouting slogans such as, “We will come together on July 1 at Taksim Square”, “We don’t keep silent, we don’t fear, we don’t obey.”