IWD in Turkey attacked

By Norm Dixon

Police broke up an International Women's Day demonstration with batons and tear gas on March 8 in Istanbul. Demonstrators were injured in the central Taksim square, the Anatolian news agency reported.

The police reacted after demonstrators called for the right of self-determination for Turkey's Kurdish population in the country's south-east.

Many wore the traditional Kurdish colours of red, green and yellow. The demonstrators carried banners and flags supporting the People's Democratic Party (HADEP), Turkey's main legal Kurdish political party. “Long live March 8”, read one banner in Turkish and Kurdish. “Stop torture in detention”, said another.

Last month, a prosecutor charged seven senior HADEP members, including party leader Murat Bozlak, with having links to the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). They face a maximum sentence of 15 years' jail.

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