JINHA

IDÎR – Women in the city of Iğdır, targeted by sexist remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after they peacefully protested him, have filed hate crime charges against the President.

Yesterday, 23 women—among them Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) candidates and the co-mayor of the city of Iğdır—headed to the Iğdır Courthouse to file charges against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. When the Turkish president came to Iğdır as part of an illegal elections campaign that presidents are forbidden from participating in in Turkey, the women gathered en masse to turn their backs on him as he went pass to signal their disapproval. Shortly afterwards, in his speech, he called the women "immoral" and "impudent" in language charged with sexist context.

"As women, when Mr. President came to Iğdır and we used our democratic right to protest on June 1, 2015, we were insulted. We are filing charges against him," said Kıznaz Türkeli, Iğdır's candidate for Parliament. She thanked women across the country who have declared their solidarity and participated in "back-turning actions" of their own.

(gc/cm)