Two ladies, one in red, the other in blue — that two iconic early images of Turkey’s uprising flashed around the world were of women now seems no coincidence. Of the tens of thousands of antigovernment protesters who daily throng Istanbul’s occupied central square — now on Day 12 — about half are female. Women have been at the forefront of a movement against what demonstrators say is Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasing attempts to shape personal freedoms. Dressed in a red cotton dress, academic Ceyda Sungur went to Istanbul’s Gezi Park in her lunch hour last week to support sit-in demonstrators protesting a government-backed redevelopment scheme that would destroy the trees. Bag slung over one arm, she was captured on film as a masked policeman doused her with pepper spray. The other image, dubbed The Lady in Blue, was of an unidentified young woman, arms outstretched, as she absorbed the full impact of a water cannon during street fighting that raged last weekend. (MORE: As Turkey Protests Continue, Attention Falls on Failures of Turkish Media) Protests began last week over the violent police intervention in the park and soon turned into an outpouring of public frustration with Erdogan’s government. Fighting riot police, demonstrators in Istanbul last weekend seized the city’s central square, including the park, and set up a colorful “free zone” that resembles the Paris Commune in spirit. Demonstrations have spread to 60 other cities. Women say they are concerned that the conservative policies of Erdogan’s government threaten their lifestyle. “The reason there are so many women out here is that this government is antiwomen,” says Sevi, a 28-year-old sociology student camping out in Gezi Park. “They don’t want to see women in public spaces. They want to see them in the home. And women have had enough.” Grievances include Erdogan’s repeated call for women to have three children, his attempts to pass abortion restrictions, turning the Ministry Responsible for Women into the Ministry for Family and Social Policy (the minister, Fatma Sahin, is the only female Cabinet member), and not![]()
