8. März: Frauen in der Türkei demonstrieren in Solidarität mit der Ukraine

Über den 8. März in der Türkei, wo die Polizei erneut gewaltsam gegen Demonstrationen vorging, berichtet Al-Monitor:

Thousands of women across Turkey took to the streets in big and small demonstrations from Sunday to today, International Women's Day, demanding gender equality and protection against domestic violence. The demonstrators added a new item to their list this year: solidarity with Ukrainian women.

"We are here to say no to war. Thousands of Ukrainian women and children have become homeless. They are the first victims of war. [Women] not only face violence but become the targets of sexist discourse," said Nazan Karacabey, spokesperson for the Ankara Women's Platform, which held a demonstration in the capital Sunday.

The platform's reference to "sexist discourse" referred to coarse jokes about "welcoming" Ukrainian women refugees on Turkish-language social media. TikTok clips, social media comments and even online news stories have shown Ukrainian women in sexy poses or extended cheeky invitations to host them, drawing the ire of Turkish women's groups and several celebrities. "Shame on those men who look at photos of displaced or wounded women and see them as sexual objects," tweeted actor Sahan Gokbahar. "Anyone who does that is an ignorant scum without a heart and a conscience." Ukrainian women in Turkey who have staged small-scale protests against the Russian invasion of their country in Istanbul and Antalya have also spoken out against the offensive remarks.

"The sexist remarks about Ukrainian women are not only made by men on the street but academics commenting on the Ukraine crisis or journalists," who have reported that these women have left behind their husbands and ran off. The commentary has outraged both feminist groups and a grassroots upswell of women, said Itir Bagdadi, a feminist scholar and one of the organizers of the Women's Night Walk in Balcova, in the Aegean portal city of Izmir. "In this year's marches, we see many messages calling for peace and solidarity with victims of war."