TURKEY’S opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) vowed that 2020 would be “the year of victory” today on the second day of its national women’s conference in Ankara.

About 500 women from across the country gathered in the Turkish capital as party co-chair Pervin Buldan opened the conference, reminding delegates of those being held in jail as “political hostages.”

“Today, I greet all of our female friends who should have been in this conference but are held hostage, especially [former co-chair] Figen Yuksekdag, Sebahat Tuncel, Gultan Kisanak, Selma Irmak, Aysel Tugluk, Caglar Demirel, Gulser Yildirim, Nurhayat Altun, and send our greetings and love to them,” she said.

“The history of women’s struggle has been difficult,” she said. “Each step and each gain has been made with a heavy price.”

Ms Buldan warned that the Turkish state has waged the biggest attacks against women in a century, with violence and femicide on the rise as the perpetrators act with impunity.

Last year saw the largest number of women killed, with 474 murders across the country, Ms Buldan warned, including the shocking attack on Emine Bulut, which sparked nationwide protests.

The party’s own co-chair system, which promotes equal representation based on sex at all levels of the party, has come under attack, being branded an act of terrorism by the authoritarian government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

But she said it showed the regime was afraid women’s involvement in politics and vowed its members would meet “their dark end in our righteous struggle.

“The black winter of injustice will end and women will bring the spring of democracy,” Ms Buldan said.

International support was received from British trade union TSSA, which send a message of “love and solidarity” to the conference.

The statement from the rail union’s Women in Focus section was read out to cheers and applause from the delegates as they pledged to “stand by you in your fight for women’s rights and in the face of all injustice.

“When you are being silenced, we will be your voice,” the union said. “We promise to continue to support you this year and always.”

The Morning Star NUJ chapel vowed to continue “to raise the voice of our sisters fighting a brutal anti-woman regime … through our newspaper, in our trade unions and our campaign organisations.”

Ms Buldan said: “2019 was the year of resistance for women, 2020 will be the year of our victory.”