ISTANBUL (AP) — Tear gas has greeted protesters in Turkey as they and demonstrators around the globe mark the U.N. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Hundreds of people, mostly women, chanted slogans Sunday in a march in Istanbul police say was unauthorized. Police briefly fired tear gas to stop the group from marching on the city's main pedestrian avenue.
Protests in Turkey have been especially restricted in recent years. The women's activist group Mor Cati says Turkey was more concerned with stopping protests than "preventing male violence."
In Spain, activists marched in more than 40 cities and towns. Tens of thousands protested in Madrid alone.
In Brussels, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani sported a red swipe under his left eye. In Italy, the mark stands for support of the U.N. day.
