Hundreds of women gathered outside an Istanbul court on Wednesday morning ahead of the opening of a trial that threatens the dissolution of one of the main and most active associations for the defense of women's rights, noted a journalist from the AFP.

“You will never be alone!”, “We are going to put an end to feminicides!” launched the demonstrators waving purple banners, the color of the feminist movement in Turkey.

An Istanbul prosecutor decided in April to sue the “We Will Stop Feminicide” platform and request its dissolution for “activities against law and morals”.

The first hearing of the trial opens Wednesday morning.

Nursel Inal, one of the platform's managers, denounced a political trial.

"There is a very organized women's movement in Turkey and we think this trial is an attack on women's struggle for their rights," she told AFP outside the court.

At the origin of the trial, complaints filed by individuals who accuse members of the association of "destroying the family on the pretext of defending women's rights".

The platform notably maintains the account and regularly publishes reports on the murders of women.

The association also organized several demonstrations for the maintenance of Turkey in the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty establishing the legal and institutional framework for the fight against gender-based violence, from which the country withdrew in 2021.

The Turkish government justified its decision to abandon the treaty by accusing it of encouraging homosexuality and threatening the traditional family structure.

According to the platform, 160 women were killed in the first six months of 2022 in Turkey, the majority of them by family members.

The tally of victims of femicide last year stood at 423.

"We are under pressure from the government because we make each feminicide visible, by publishing the names of the women killed one by one," said Ms. Inal.

“Our reports contradict the government claiming the number of femicides is down.”