09/03/2026 | Writer: Kaos GL
Hundreds of women and LGBTI+ people filled the streets in Ankara. In Istanbul, six activists were detained for carrying LGBTI+ flags; in İzmir, Bursa, Kocaeli, and Mersin, those carrying LGBTI+ flags were targeted by police attacks.
On International Women’s Day (March 8), women and LGBTI+ people took to the streets in many cities across Turkey. From Ankara to İstanbul, from İzmir to Amed, marches and rallies were held in numerous cities where women and LGBTI+ people voiced their demands against poverty, violence, war, and discrimination. During the protests, participants frequently reacted to anti-women and anti-LGBTI+ policies, hate speech, and proposed anti-LGBTI+ legislative initiatives.
While demonstrations in many cities continued with Feminist Night Marches, participants carried rainbow and trans flags and chanted slogans such as “We are not silent, we are not afraid, we do not obey” and “Long live life despite hatred.” However, in some cities, there were also police attacks, bans on banners and flags, and detentions.
We compiled scenes from March 8 for KaosGL.org readers.
Ankara
In Ankara, women and LGBTI+ people first gathered on Yüksel Street following a call by the Ankara Women’s Platform. Marching behind a banner reading “Our struggle against violence, war, and exploitation transcends borders”, they walked to Sakarya Street chanting slogans including “We are not silent, we are not afraid, we do not obey,” “Rebellion, revolution, freedom,” “Biji berxwedana lubunya,” and “Not the year of the family, but the year of resistance.”
March 8 in Ankara continued with the Feminist Night March. Hundreds of women and LGBTI+ people gathered on Konur Street and marched to Sakarya Street.
In their press statement, women and LGBTI+ participants said:
“We are here together against hate laws and policies targeting our right to abortion. We are here together against interventions in our bodies and against transphobic policies imposed under the name of ‘public morality.’ In the name of so-called family values, judicial packages are being used to introduce prison sentences, house sealing, and new mechanisms of repression against women and LGBTI+ people. Access to hormones is being obstructed, and gender affirmation processes are being made more difficult. The patriarchal order is trying to seize trans people’s rights to life, health, and housing. We declare from here: do not even think about passing an LGBTI+ hostile hate law! Together with your cis-heteropatriarchal order, we will send that law to the dustbin of history. We insist on life and on the feminist struggle.”
After the statement, the Ankara Feminist Night March ended with dances.
İstanbul
In Istanbul, International Women’s Day began with bans and transportation restrictions imposed by the governor’s office. Demonstrations in and around Taksim were banned. The M2 Yenikapı–Hacıosman Metro Line’s Taksim station and the F1 Taksim–Kabataş Funicular Line were closed starting at 3.00 PM, and the İstiklal Street exit of Şişhane station was also closed to passengers. Additionally, tram lines and several roads in Kadıköy, including Söğütlüçeşme, Bahariye, and Albay Faik Sözdener streets, were closed to traffic. Before the Feminist Night March, the Women’s Rights Center of the İstanbul Bar Association filed a lawsuit seeking the annulment of the ban.
Despite all restrictions, women and LGBTI+ people first marched from the Bull Statue to Kadıköy Ferry Square for the Grand Women’s Gathering, organized following a call by the March 8 Women’s Platform, where a press statement was read.
During the statement, an activist who drew attention to the repression targeting LGBTI+ people was followed by police and detained. In addition, a banner belonging to the Women’s Defense Network was not allowed into the area because it contained rainbow colors. The detained LGBTI+ activist was later released.
March 8 in Istanbul continued with the Feminist Night March. Women and LGBTI+ people marched from Sıraselviler to Taksim. During the march, murdered trans people were commemorated with chants of “Hande Kader is here, Zirve Soylu is here, Çağla Joker is here!”
In their press statement, participants said:
“They claim it’s the ‘year of the family’ and say they will ‘degender’ us. By taking it as far as policing gender and inventing absurd categories like ‘behavior inappropriate to one’s sex,’ they are trying to block trans people’s access to hormones and their right to life, ultimately to preserve men’s dominance over women. Because they know that dominance is under threat. Because they see the danger created by feminism’s power to transform. Because this order will change.”
After the march ended, six people were detained for carrying LGBTI+ flags. They were released later that night.
İzmir
In İzmir, women and LGBTI+ people gathered in front of the Türkan Saylan Cultural Center in Alsancak following a call by the Izmir Women’s Platform. Marching behind a banner reading “We are in struggle against war, poverty, and violence,” they walked to the front of Penguen Book Cafe.
In the press statement, participants said:
“Under the guise of judicial reform packages, hostility toward women and LGBTI+ people is being institutionalized. Omnibus bills are being filled with regulations that effectively weaken Law No. 6284, disregard the spirit of the İstanbul Convention, criminalize LGBTI+ identities, and restrict access to healthcare.”
The city later hosted a Feminist Night March. Police attempted to attack the LGBTI+ flag, but despite all obstacles the rainbow flag was waved in the area. Slogans such as “Don’t stay silent, shout: LGBTI+ people exist” and “Long live life despite hatred!” were chanted as participants marched behind a banner reading “Our feminist rebellion transcends the borders that surround our lives!”
Bursa
In Bursa, women and LGBTI+ people gathered at Fomara Square at 6.30 PM for the March 8 Feminist Night March, organized by the Bursa Women’s Platform. The march began at 7.30 PM toward Kent Square.
Midway along the route, protesters encountered a police barricade. Police blocked the march, citing the display of LGBTI+ and trans flags. When participants refused to disperse, police eventually had to remove the barricade and the march continued.
Throughout the march, references were made to women’s struggles in Rojava, Palestine, and Iran. Protesters chanted slogans including “Trans murders are political,” “Lesbians exist, that’s a fact,” and “Where are you, my love?”
Attention was also drawn to the case against Defne Güzel, president of the May 17 Association, who is being prosecuted for “violating public morality.” Activists carried signs reading “Put hatred on trial, not Defne Güzel.”
Kocaeli
In Kocaeli, women and LGBTI+ people gathered for a march organized by the Kocaeli Women’s Platform. The march began in front of the Central Bank in İzmit and ended at Sabri Yalım Park.
During the march, an LGBTI+ activist from KuirKozgun was beaten and detained for displaying a rainbow flag. A scuffle broke out when police attempted to seize the flag, prompting protesters to condemn the police violence. Despite attempts to prevent it, the rainbow flag was waved in the area.
Amed
In Amed, women and LGBTI+ people marched together, with LGBTI+ participants carrying a banner reading “We are also subjects of peace.”
Sara Collective said:
“The ‘year of the family’ declared by the government reproduces an understanding that seeks to confine women and lubunyas within heteronormative family norms. We know that a free life is too plural, colorful, and resistant to be confined to a single model of family. Meanwhile, policies targeting LGBTI+ people, women, and different identities, under the name of a ‘hate law’, are fueling polarization and hostility in society. But no order built on hatred is permanent. We stand on the side of solidarity, not hatred; existence, not denial.”
Dersim
In Dersim, women and LGBTI+ people gathered on Sanat Street following a call by the Dersim Women’s Platform and marched to Seyit Rıza Square. After the march, a rally was held under the slogan “Organized fight against poverty, inequality, violence, and war.”
Speaking on behalf of the platform, BES Dersim Branch Women’s Secretary Elif Yıldız called for strengthening organized struggle, noting that women bear the heaviest consequences of wars, economic crises, and poverty, while women’s labor is exploited through precarious work conditions and low wages.
A placard reading “Neither illness, nor crime, nor sin! LGBTI+ rights are human rights,” brought by the Human Rights Association’s Dersim Branch, and the feminist magazine Ekmek ve Gül were not allowed into the rally area. Responding to the ban, activist Kordu said: “We will continue to say Ekmek and Gül (Bread and Rose). The bread is ours, the rose is ours, and the struggle is ours.”
Adana
In Adana, women and LGBTI+ people gathered for a march organized by civil society organizations. Participants assembled on Cevat Yurdakul Street in Seyhan district and marched to Uğur Mumcu Square, chanting slogans and carrying banners.
Throughout the march, participants voiced demands for equality and freedom. Despite police attempts to intervene, the Free University Movement opened an LGBTI+ flag in the protest area.
March 8 in Adana continued with the Feminist Night March, where police attempted to confiscate LGBTI+ themed placards and banners.
Antalya
Women and LGBTI+ people gathered at Aydın Kanza Park. A banner prepared by the DEM Party was not allowed into the area because the number “8” was designed in the shape of braided hair. Participants protested the ban. Police later collected placards and conducted ID checks.
During the press statement, participants called for resistance against the government’s anti-women and anti-LGBTI+ policies. Rainbow and trans flags were waved from the stage.
In the evening, the Feminist Night March began at Üç Kapılar, where participants declared: “Our lives, our rights, our bodies, our identities, our labor, our desires, for peace and for feminist rebellion.”
Çanakkale
In Çanakkale, women and LGBTI+ people gathered following a call by the Çanakkale Women’s Platform. They assembled in front of Golf Tea Garden and marched toward the ferry square. During the march, police attacked an activist carrying an LGBTI+ flag.
Mersin
In Tarsus, women and LGBTI+ people gathered in front of the Public Education Center and marched to Yarenlik Square. The protest highlighted femicides, policies excluding women and LGBTI+ people from social life under the guise of family policies, and reactionary practices in schools.
In Mersin, March 8 continued with a Feminist Night March. Participants gathered on Kushimoto Street and marched to Barış Square. Police attempted to seize an LGBTI+ flag from protesters, but participants refused to allow it.
Artvin
In Artvin, women and LGBTI+ people from Hopa and Kemalpaşa marched from in front of Yasemin Pharmacy in Orta Hopa Neighborhood to Hopa Square.
In their statement, participants condemned imperialist attacks in the Middle East, saying:
“From Palestine to Iran, from Afghanistan to Rojava, from Turkey to Syria, we weave solidarity like our braids in the face of attacks by imperialism, Zionism, and reactionary regimes.”
They also protested policies that exclude women and LGBTI+ people from social life under the name of family policies and demanded “freedom, equality, and a secular life.”
Bodrum
In Bodrum, women and LGBTI+ people gathered in front of Tepecik Mosque following a call by the Bodrum Women’s Platform.
The press statement said:
“In this country we are under constant threat because we are women, because we are lubunyas (LGBTI+ people), because we exist. The government tries to legitimize its political Islamist, profit-driven policies through hostility toward women and LGBTI+ people. Yes, we are faced with a greedy, opportunistic, fascist male government that wants all the anger of the impoverished people, kept poor so that some can rule in palaces, to be directed at women and LGBTI+ people.”
Gebze
Women and LGBTI+ people gathered in Gebze following a call by the Gebze Women’s Platform.
The press statement said:
“Alongside the unlawful withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention and the weakening of Law No. 6284, the government and its reactionary-nationalist alliance, with all its institutions and media, are spreading hostility toward women and LGBTI+ people and promoting hate speech.”
Kuşadası
In Kuşadası, women and LGBTI+ people amplified feminist rebellion. Marching behind a banner reading “Feminist rebellion no matter what,” participants protested femicides, trans murders, and the government’s anti-LGBTI+ policies. During the protest, participants chanted “Don’t stay silent, shout: trans people exist.”
Tags: human rights, women, media, life, labour, family, trans, lgbti
