Turkish police on Tuesday detained two women aged 17 and 20 in eastern Turkey after they posted videos of themselves braiding their hair in support of Kurdish women in northern Syria, the Artı Gerçek news website reported.
The women, identified as Ayşe Avcı, 20, and a 17-year-old identified only by the initials N.A., were taken into custody Tuesday in the Kağızman district of northeastern Kars province and brought to the district police headquarters.
Police raided Avcı’s home as well as her workplace before detaining her and the teenager.
The posts were part of an online “hair-braiding” campaign that began after a video circulated earlier this month from the Syrian city of Raqqa showing a man holding up a woman’s cut braid and claiming it belonged to a fighter from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
In response, women in Turkey and across Kurdish communities posted videos of themselves braiding their hair, describing the campaign as an act of solidarity and a protest against what they said was the humiliation and targeting of Kurdish women.
Avcı and N.A. were held overnight at the district police department and later referred to a prosecutor after giving statements. A court released the two under the judicial supervision measures sought by the prosecutors.
