JINHA

MÊRDÎN – Police stopped women from holding a march to support a woman HDP parliamentary candidate in the Northern Kurdish city of Mardin yesterday.

Women gathered to hold a march, playing erbane drums, from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) election headquarters in the neighborhood of Yenişehir, chanting slogans including "women to parliament" and "woman, life, freedom." The HDP is known as a pro-women party with a 50% woman electoral list. Peace Mothers were among the crowd, as was HDP parliamentary candidate Gülser Yıldırım herself.

When the women reached the Yeşilköy Bazaar, they began dancing line dances, at which point police gathered, calling the dancing and music an "unlawful demonstration." After police threatened to intervene, Gülser Yıldırım attempted to reason with them. Women argued with police who were taking video, then marched back to the election headquarters, where they continued dancing.

(rk/fk/cm)