SCORES of women were released from detention in Istanbul today after Turkish police attacked a women’s night march with rubber bullets.

Police blocked the city’s Taksim Square, close to Gezi Park – the scene of huge anti-government protests in 2013 – after the city’s governor banned demonstrations marking International Women’s Day.

“All roads leading to Taksim Square and Istiklal Street will be closed as these places are not classified as designated areas for assembly and demonstrations according to law,” the governor’s office said in a statement.

Undeterred, thousands of women took part in the annual night march, gathering in front of the Human Rights Association office before moving off in the direction of Istiklal Street.

Police blocked their path, firing rubber bullets and tear gas and taking at least 34 into custody. Women were seen being dragged by their hair and beaten by officers as they defied the ban.

They had marched under the slogan “unity and rebellion” and were joined by Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP Leyla Guven, who led a 2018-19 hunger strike by Kurdish prisoners that lasted more than 200 days.

Demands were made for the release of all female political prisoners, including former HDP co-chair Figen Yuksekdag, who will appear in court on Tuesday. She faces life behind bars on trumped-up terrorism charges.

In a message from Kandira prison, she said that she hoped the march would  “open the doors of hope, courage, peace, freedom and justice from inside to outside.”

Women in Turkey are paid almost 18 per cent less than men.

Rising violence against women saw at least 440 murdered last year.