Istanbul police on Friday fired tear gas at thousands of women who took to the city’s central avenue on International Women’s Day in defiance of a protest ban to demand greater rights and denounce violence.
Police also pushed back a sea of women, wearing purple wigs, masks, and whistling at the entrance to the city’s main pedestrianized shopping street of Istiklal Avenue, an international news agency reported.
The event took place peacefully last year but just before this year´s march, authorities issued a statement banning any demonstration on the city´s central avenue.
Thousands of demonstrators were allowed into a small part of the avenue to stage the protest.
