We are gathering tomorrow at the Great Women's Rally
Women will raise their voices against this reactionary government tomorrow at 12:00 at the Great Women's Rally to be held in Ankara's Tandoğan Square. Women, ready to demonstrate the power of the feminist movement once again, say, ‘We will renew our hope.’
Attacks on women's rights in the country are gaining momentum every day. The political Islamist regime wants to take away all the gains that form the basis of women's equal citizenship rights, from alimony rights to the Civil Code. Women's murders are on the rise, and violence against women is rewarded with impunity. The government, which terminated the Istanbul Convention, is also failing to effectively implement Law No. 6284. Women are constantly being told to ‘know their place.’ They are told there is no life outside the family... Women in violent families are condemned to poverty. But women are saying enough is enough.
Tomorrow, the Women's Rally Components, formed by 34 democratic mass organisations and professional associations, will raise the voice of rebellion against this reactionary government by organising a Grand Women's Rally at 12:00 noon in Tandoğan Square, Ankara, against all these inequalities, the systematic disregard of women, and the trampling of their rights. This uprising is not merely an objection; it signifies the renewal of hope and the re-affirmation of the women's movement's strength in the public square. Women's organisations are calling on all women to gather at Ankara's Tandoğan Square tomorrow.
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WE CAN STOP THIS REGIME WITH A BROAD ALLIANCE
Elif TOPKAYA SEVİNÇ - Volunteer for the Women's Platform for Equality
As women's organisations, we will be participating in tomorrow's Women's Rally because today women's right to life, their acquired rights and freedoms are directly under attack. We cannot remain silent in the face of the increase in murders of women and child abuse following the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, the ineffective implementation of Law No. 6284, attempts to erode secularism, economic policies that deepen women's poverty, and discriminatory family policies that disregard our existence. This rally is a powerful expression of women's determination to speak out together about their lives, their rights and their future
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WE ARE FIGHTING WITH THE STRENGTH WE DRAW FROM EACH OTHER
Zeynep ŞATIR - Member of the Left Feminist Movement
The one-man regime continues its policies targeting our right to life. This regime is making our country unliveable for women and LGBT+ people. The government's reactionary policies seek to keep women in a secondary position in all areas of life.
We are calling for the 10 January Great Women's Rally, which will reignite the long-dormant feminist movement and grow the idea of a united women's movement. Let us come together to achieve secularism, equality, a life free from violence and exploitation, safe and secure working conditions, and secular and scientific education. Let us fill Ankara's Tandoğan Square with all the women and LGBT+ people who oppose this regime. Let us shout our demands for a whole day. Let us voice our demand for freedom, for the lives that have been stolen from us.
WE KNOW HOW TO RESIST
There is a great truth that the one man ignores: we have known how to resist and fight since the first days of our existence. Against all the ‘you can't do it, you don't know how’ comments, we stubbornly create the best and the most beautiful. We stand strong with the power we draw from each other, with our sisterhood.
With the solidarity we provide in every area of life, we create our livable world. Now, we will create the most beautiful resistance on 10 January in Ankara, just as we did on 8 March and 25 November.
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WOMEN'S SOLIDARITY AND VOICE-RAISING ACTION
Canan GÜLLÜ - President of the Federation of Women's Associations of Turkey
As a link in the chain of women who contributed to the struggle for liberation and the founding of the Republic, we are making this call.
10 January 2026 is an action to voice the problems that have accumulated over the years on behalf of all women in this country, to show solidarity and to raise our voices against injustice. It will be a cry against the fact that even the right to life of women, who are equal citizens according to this country's Constitution, is not guaranteed.
WE WANT TO LIVE
We women do not want to be murdered; we want secure jobs. We do not want to be married off at an early age and by force; we want access to education. We do not want to be imprisoned by family policies and forced to submit; we want equality. In short, we want to live. We invite all women to this legally authorised protest rally, exercising their right to protest under the Constitution.
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NO POWER IS STRONGER THAN WOMEN
Ürün GÜNER - Chair of the Board of Directors, Flying Broom Foundation
Women's right to life has become a matter of political choice in this country. With the decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, violence has been legitimised, Law No. 6284 has been rendered unenforceable, and while murders of women increase daily, those responsible are protected by impunity. On 10 January, in Ankara's Tandoğan Square, together with women from all over Turkey, we are amplifying our protest against these policies. We will not bow down to the theft of women's joy of life, dreams and future; to the reduction of femicides to statistics; to the message sent to young women that ‘there is no place for you in this country’.
THEIR COURAGE IS OUR LEGACY
In the aftermath of the 12 September coup in this country, the first organised protest to take to the streets came from women. The historical courage of the women who took to the streets in 1987 saying ‘No to Violence’ and who shouted ‘Neither Sharia nor tanks’ in 1997 is with us today. In Tandoğan, with intergenerational solidarity, we will defend secularism, equal citizenship, and the right to life of women and LGBT+ people. This rally is not a call, but a warning: You cannot make women's rights a bargaining chip. Throughout the year, we will continue to be present in the streets, in the squares, in every area of life, together with broad masses. Because we know: No power is stronger than the organised struggle of women.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Yarın Büyük Kadın Mitingi’nde buluşuyoruz: Dünyayı yerinden oynatacağız, published in BirGün newspaper on January 9, 2026.
