TURKISH police yesterday fired tear gas to break up a women’s rights march in Ankara, with some 15 protesters reportedly detained.

The protesters, mainly from the Ankara Women’s Platform, a civil society organisation promoting women’s rights, had gathered in the Turkish capital for the march called ahead of International Women’s Day on Thursday.

“We are getting stronger in solidarity,” read one banner as riot police moved in and fired tear gas after the group ignored calls to disperse, AFP photographers at the scene said.

Fifteen women were detained by police, the private Dogan News Agency reported.

In Istanbul yesterday, a group of 1,500 women rallied in the Bakirkoy district on the European side of the city, an AFP journalist reported.

The group was protesting against Turkey’s military operation in Syria targeting Syrian Kurdish militia, considered a terror group by Ankara.

“There is a war on our border. We cannot remain indifferent,” said one female protester named Meltem. – AFP, March 5, 2018.