Women Are at the Forefront in Turkish Protests - Middle East Real Time - WSJ
Every protest movement has its icon. In Turkey, a woman braving tear gas in a bright-red dress has become one of the most memorable sights of the two-week old protests, and offers an insight into the significant role that Turkish women have played in the demonstrations.
The image of the woman standing still as policemen, masked with riot-gear, tried to spray her down, has ricocheted across social media and galvanized other Turkish women taking part in the demonstrations, which started out to protect a park in Istanbul and now reflect a wider array of grievances against the country’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In Istanbul’s Taksim Square, the epicenter of the protests, women have made up at least half of the people who have gathered nightly to protest at Mr. Erdogan’s policies.
Their prominent role reflects a feeling among many Turkish women that Mr. Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted government has grown disrespectful of individual rights, and has become less tolerant of non-traditional lifestyles.
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