Exactly 129  striking women workers died as a result of  police brutality and the ensuing fire in a textile factory on March 8th 1857. More than ten thousand people attended the workers' funeral. In the following years, March 8 was declared 'International Working Women's Day'. 

In our country, women still live under  difficult conditions and face  discrimination in their personal lives. However, at Beşiktaş JK, which happen to be the oldest pioneering club in Turkey,  women have the opportunity to engage in  all kinds of sports.

Our club had trained the first female athletes in its history in the fencing discipline and made them all licensed. The 'Beşiktaş Women's Fencing Team' consisting of Suat Fetgeri, Halet Çambel and Neriman brought great honor to Beşiktaş by repeatedly writing their names in the Istanbul and Turkish Championships in the 1930s. Suat Fetgeri and Halet Çambel from this group also competed with the national team and also represented Turkiye in the '1936 Berlin Olympic Games' and won the title of 'the first Turkish female athletes to participate in the Olympic Games'... Halet Çambel, who also worked as a faculty member at universities for many years after leaving sports, is also famous for her title as the first female professor in Turkiye. In many sports disciplines such as gymnastics, swimming, athletics, basketball, volleyball and football, our club have proudly trained and continue to train female athletes. 

Happy 8th of March to all working women and women of Beşiktaş in the World!

 

Beşiktaş