The woman in red and black, icons of the revolt in Turkey

Shower of pepper spray turns woman in a red dress into Turkey’s image of resistance

A woman dressed in red who protested in defense of a green area in Istanbul, received a tear gas in the face. Another, dressed in black, protested against the Turkish government, she received a strong jet of water in the chest. The two pictures were seen around the world through social networks and are now icons of Turkish revolt. Muslim women have played a leading role in the demonstrations against the government.

Every revolt has its symbols, and those of the protests in Turkey against the Government are these two women known by the color of their clothes, which have become a phenomenon in social networks.

The first was “The Woman in Red“, who appears in a photo taken during the first Gezi mobilizations in the park when the police tried to evict a group of citizens who faced the advancing bulldozers. She is Ceyda Sungur, professor of urban planning at the Technical University of Istanbul who was defying a police who gassed her in the face with tear gas. The photo was soon replicated in Facebook and Twitter and symbolized the police attack unarmed citizens.

Women in black knocked with pressured water jet from police officers

Days later, when demonstrations and had become more aggressive, another woman, this time dressed in black, took over in Taksim next to the Gezi park got a huge pressure water jet in the chest from a police vehicle.

Renowned architect Selim Vural, who runs a studio in New York, has already distributed an outline in the social networks for a sculpture of stylized lines, which in the future could preside over Taksim Square, in her opinion.

Since Saturday, Taksim adjacent to the Gezi park, was taken by the protesters, who have surrounded the compound with strong barricades, from which they reject any police intrusion attempt. So far the demonstrations have left three dead and more than 4000 injured and 29 arres