On November 25, 2021, protesters run away from a tear gas during a protest against gender-based violence on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in Istanbul, Turkey. REUTERS Umit Bektas
ISTANBUL, Nov 25 Reuters - Riot police fired pepper gas to disperse demonstrators who gathered in Istanbul on Thursday to protest violence against women, some chanting government resign nearly five months after Turkey withdrew from a treaty on the issue.
A group of several thousand people, mostly women, marched to Taksim Square and blocked off with barriers amid a heavy police presence. The police fired the gas and scuffled with the protesters after they urged them to disperse.
The protest to the international day for the elimination of violence against women coincided with other small anti-government protests this week over the sharp decline in the value of the lira currency.
The protesters chanted and helped up banners, demanding urgent action against gender-based violence in Turkey.
We are not silent, not afraid, not obeying, chanted the demonstrators who rushed to the police barriers.
At the beginning of July, Turkey withdrew from an international treaty to combat violence against women, known as the Istanbul Convention, and negotiated in Turkey's biggest city in 2011 in a move strongly criticised by Western allies. Erdogan said in March that Turkey would use local laws to protect women's rights.