Turkish Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Thursday to push back thousands of people, mostly women, who took to the streets of Istanbul to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The protests,which was part of a week of nationwide mobilization, came amid calls for Turkey to rejoin the Istanbul Convention, a landmark agreement to protect women that includes 45 countries and was signed in Turkey’s largest city in 2011.
Meanwhile, President Recep Erdogan has argued that existing laws in Turkey already provide enough protection for women, but women’s rights groups in the country say the convention provided a roadmap for important legislation that the government has never fully implemented.