To the Public
We Condemn!
For twelve years, as feminists, we have organized the March 8 Feminist Night March in Taksim as women and trans people against patriarchy, male violence, sexism, heterosexism, capitalism, militarism and war. Thousands of women joined our march again this year, which we called for and worked to organize as feminists months in advance. Our march, which began at Galatasaray, continued with great enthusiasm and our slogans.
Since last May Day, the AKP government has intervened in demonstrations in Taksim with police violence. Since the days of the Gezi resistance, it has continued attacking the social opposition’s actions in Taksim with gas, water and batons. Today too, we saw that they had blocked entry to Taksim in front of the French Consulate.
When we feminists reached the police barricade, mixed socialist groups (Kaldıraç, Mücadele Birliği, Partizan, EKA), who had stood inactive in front of it until we arrived, did not clear the space for us despite our earlier warnings. This is the clearest expression of certain socialist groups’ approach that refuses to recognize the legitimacy of feminism’s struggle and organization as a political movement. We consider their standing inactive at the police barricade and then taking action against the police upon the arrival of the feminist contingent incompatible with political ethics, and wholly removed from the idea of social movements showing solidarity against the state. Worst of all, these groups responded to our warnings not to obstruct our action with insults and physical violence. Men from Kaldıraç responded with physical violence to women and LGBT people asking for Kaldıraç’s flags to be lowered. Our encountering violence from certain socialist men while marching against male state violence on March 8 has entered the historical record.
Worse still, after we, as the action committee, had to end the action because of this situation, these groups that had intervened in our action gathered their flags and silently withdrew.
We condemn these groups, who will not leave public spaces to women even on March 8, who do not recognize feminism as a legitimate political movement, and whose attitudes and conduct are incompatible with political ethics. On this occasion, we announce once again that we will continue our just struggle against male domination everywhere.
Istanbul Feminist Collective / 08.03.2014