Women in Turkey to march against violence on International Women's Day on March 8.

Women in Turkey to march against violence on International Women's Day on March 8. (Bugun).

Women's rights organizations are calling on Turkish females to attend an İstanbul rally on Sunday marking International Women's Day on March 8. Women in Turkey to march against violence on March 8.

İstanbul March 8 Woman Platform - an umbrella organization that bring together Turkish women’s rights groups - said in a statement on Thursday that this year’s event would be dedicated to Özgecan Aslan, a 20-year-old student who was murdered while resisting sexual assault, "as well as to thousands of women who lost their lives at home, in streets or wars as a result of male-state violence."

Violence against women has become an important issue in Turkey after the brutal murder of Aslan in the southern province of Mersin in February.

Hundreds of people had gathered across the country to protest the murder, even reawakening discussions on the death penalty in Turkey - the country abolished capital punishment in 2004, replacing it with aggravated life imprisonment.

A member of woman’s rights commission at İstanbul Human Rights Association, or IHD, Leyla Kaya, said that she hoped to have Turkey's biggest rallies on Sunday.

The groups will meet at 12:00 (1000 GMT) in İstanbul’s Anatolian-side district of Kadıköy and the event will continue until 6:00 p.m. (1600 GMT) as there is a derby game between football rival teams, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe.

“Mainly woman police officers will be working during the march,” Kaya said.

According to information gathered from Turkish press reports by the İstanbul Human Rights Association, 28 women were killed and 38 women were injured by men in January while in February, 24 women were murdered and 17 were injured. Hmmm......Advanced 'Islamist' Democracy.