On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed an executive order signalling Turkey’s withdrawal from the landmark Istanbul Convention, which seeks to eradicate all forms of violence against women to achieve gender parity by dismantling “unequal power relations”. The decree sparked immediate protests, with hundreds of thousands of men and women calling for Erdoğan’s resignation.
The Istanbul Convention, which was signed in 2011, is a legally binding treaty of the Council of Europe that seeks to protect women from all forms of gender-based violence. The treaty states that countries must take “due diligence” to protect victims and lists a series of offences considered as violence against women, which include but is not limited to domestic violence, sexual harassment, rape, forced marriage, honour crimes, and genital mutilation.
However, conservatives in Turkey, as well as the ruling and Erdoğan-led Justice and Development Party (AKP), argue that the treaty violates Turkey’s traditional social values and promotes homosexuality by defining categories like gender equality and sexual orientation. Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said that there is no need for Turkey “to imitate others” in order to protect Turkish women.
The move further harms Turkey’s already shaky commitment to its female population and could jeopardise Turkey’s candidature to the European Union (EU). Instances of domestic violence against women in Turkey have been on the rise. In 2019 alone, more than 400 women were murdered in Turkey. In light of these grim statistics, Turkey’s decision to quit the treaty has led to widespread anger and outrage among its population, and has also been met with international criticism.
Opposition leaders have condemned the move and Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, who belongs to the opposition Republican People’s Party, called it “painful”. United States (US) President Joe Biden called the move “unwarranted” and said that it is “a disheartening step backward for the international movement to end violence against women globally.” Likewise, the Council of Europe (CoE) Secretary-General, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, called it “deplorable”, as it “compromises the protection of women in Turkey, across Europe and beyond.
Opposition members have also claimed that they will not recognize the move, since it was based on an executive order and the parliament was not consulted. However, after his re-election in 2018, Erdoğan changed Turkey’s parliamentary government into a presidential system, giving the executive wide powers, such as the authority to enter and withdraw from treaties.
Turkey Withdraws From Istanbul Convention, Drawing Hundreds of Protesters
Turkey’s decision to pull out of the 2011 Istanbul Convention, which seeks to protect women from all forms of violence, sparked immediate protests and was met with widespread condemnation.
March 23, 2021
Protests in Ankara against Turkey's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention SOURCE: REUTERS