in her red cotton summer dress and
necklace, white bag slung over her shoulder, she might have been
floating across the lawn at a garden party.
But behind her crouches a masked policeman firing noxious tear gas spray that sends her long hair billowing upwards.Endlessly shared on social media and recreated as artwork on posters and stickers, the image of the woman in red has become the leitmotif for female protesters during days of violent anti-government riots in Istanbul.
Iconic: The image that
has become the leitmotif image of the woman in red has become the
leitmotif for female protesters during days of violent anti-government
riots in Istanbul
This is what democracy looks like: This
combination of photos shows how the unknown woman first faces off with
the massed ranks of riot police before one steps forward to spray the
gas right into her face
Standing up for her rights: The brave woman is
forces to retreat coughing and spluttering as the gas-wielding riot
policeman goes on to spray the crowds of demonstrators behind her,
leaving them in agony
'The violence of the police against peaceful protesters, people just trying to protect themselves and what they value.'
In one artist's rendering which has been plastered on walls in Istanbul and elsewhere the woman appears much bigger than the policeman.
'The more you spray the bigger we get', reads the slogan next to it.
Whose streets? Protesters wear scarves over
their faces as demonstrations against the government, police brutality
and the destruction of a city park for a development project continue in
Istanbul
Carnival atmosphere: The glow of red flares
illuminates the scene as protesters stand outside in Istanbul tonight.
The brutal response of police has raised concerns from the U.S., the EU
and human rights groups
Fervent secularism: Turkish Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan on Monday branded the protesters, who have fought street
battles with since Friday, extremists 'living arm in arm with terrorism'
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan branded the protesters on Monday extremists 'living arm in arm with terrorism', a description that seems to sit ill with the image of the woman in red.
There were others dressed in more combative gear and sporting face masks as they threw stones, but the large number of very young women in Besiktas and on Taksim Square where the protests began on Friday evening is notable.
With swimming goggles and flimsy surgical masks against the teargas, light tasselled scarves hanging around their necks, Esra, Hasine and Secil stand apprehensively in the Besiktas district on Monday evening.
They are joined by ever growing numbers of youngsters as dusk falls and the mood grows more sombre.
They belong, as perhaps does the woman in red, to the ranks of young, articulate women who believe they have something to lose in Erdogan's Turkey.
They feel threatened by his promotion of the Islamic headscarf, symbol of female piety.
Ready for action: A gas mask-clad protester
carries a dustbin lid as a shield during clashes with police near Prime
Minister Erdogan's office, between Taksim and Besiktas, in the early
hours of Tuesday morning
Manning the barricades: Many young Turks are
worried about the introduction of new, apparently Islamic-inspired laws
brought in by Erdogan, who has strong support in the conservative
Anatolian heartland
A man holds a flag bearing the image of Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk, who founded modern, secular Turkey on the ashes of the
Ottoman Empire in 1923 and encouraged the country to throw off its
religious traditions
'I respect women who wear the headscarf, that is their right, but I also want my rights to be protected,' says Esra. 'I'm not a leftist or an anti-capitalist. I want to be a business woman and live in a free Turkey.'
Leader: Erdogan, a pious man who denies Islamist
ambitions for Turkey, rejects any suggestion he wants to cajole anyone
into religious observance
Ironically, Erdogan is seen these days as, for better or worse, the most dominant Turkish leader since Ataturk.
After first sweeping to power in in 2002, he remains unrivalled in popularity, drawing on strong support in the conservative Anatolian heartland.
The weekend demonstrations in dozens of cities suggest however his popularity may be dwindling, at least among middle classes who swung behind him in the early years of political and economic reform that cut back the power of the army and introduced some rights amendments.
'Erdogan says 50 percent of the people voted for him. I'm here to show I belong to the other 50 percent, the half of the population whose feelings he showed no respect for, the ones he is trying to crush,' says chemistry student Hasine.
'I want to have a future here in Turkey, a career, a freedom to live my life. But all these are under threat. I want Erdogan to understand,' she adds.
Erdogan, a pious man who denies Islamist ambitions for Turkey, rejects any suggestion he wants to cajole anyone into religious observance.
He says new alcohol laws, also denounced by the women, have been passed to protect health rather than on religious grounds.
Drenched: A group of young women are hit with a
high-pressure spray from a water cannon during demonstrations in Ankara
yesterday. The crackdown has left two dead and more than 1,000 injured
Come prepared: Three women shout slogans against
the government in Ankara. Around their necks they wear masks to put on
in the event that police respond to their demonstration by firing tear
gas canisters
Determined: Women shout slogans against the government on a bright sunny day in Istanbul yesterday
Some have hard-hats, some are dressed all in black, most wear running shoes. But many are dressed as femininely as the girl in the red dress snapped on Taksim Square.
'Of course I'm nervous and I know I could be in danger here,' said 23 year-old economics student Busra, who says her parents support her protest.
'But for me that is nothing compared to the danger of losing the Turkish Republic, its freedoms and spirit.'
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