In pictures: Turkey cracks down on International Women's Day rally

When women from varied political and economic backgrounds gathered on Friday evening to march and celebrate their democratic rights to peacefully assemble, police forbade throng of ralliers from walking down Istanbul's main street. (MEE/Nimet Kirac)

While crowds chanted popular feminist slogan “Jin, Jiyaz, Azadi”, Kurdish for “Woman, Life, Freedom”, many women blew plastic whistles of various colors. (MEE/Nimet Kirac)

Violence against women in Turkey is nothing new. In 2018, 440 women were killed and 317 women were subjected to sexual violence, according to data collected by the group We Will Stop Femicides Platform. (MEE/Nimet Kirac)

Turkey now ranks 130^th out of 149 countries on the World Economic Forum’s 2018 Gender Gap Index. Police intervention on Friday “was planned long before,” one officer on the scene told MEE. He did not want to be identified for security reasons. (MEE/Nimet Kirac)

Another police officer who did not wish to be identified said measures were taken because some demonstrators displayed signs praising Abdullah Ocalan, jailed leader of the separatist, armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). One 24-year-old said she has didn't understand why police use of force was necessary. “I am happy to see and feel women’s solidarity, but am also heartbroken,” Melek Biran, a student from the central Anatolian Konya province said. “I feel oppressed. Even today, it seems that we are not free.” (MEE/Nimet Kirac)

Riot police with guns firing rubber bullet approached from inside the Istiklal Street and pushed demonstrators towards Taksim Square. Women expressed shock at the use of force by police. “I would never think they would go this far,” Gizem Kucuk said. “What is their gain? I’m so upset that I am tearing up just thinking about what happened.” (MEE/Nimet Kirac)