- Turkey will no longer abide by the European treaty protecting women from violence.
- Turkey had been the first country to sign the treaty, called the Istanbul Convention, in 2011.
- Some members of Erdogan’s Islamic party said the treaty undermines Turkey’s traditional family.
ISTANBUL, Turkey: Turkey will no longer abide by the European treaty protecting women from violence.
Turkey had been the first country to sign the treaty, called the Istanbul Convention, in 2011.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his annulling Turkey’s ratification of the Istanbul Convention on Saturday.
There are some within Erdogan’s Islamic party who have said the treaty encourages divorce and undermines the traditional family. Also, some said the treaty encouraged homosexuality.
In response to Turkey’s withdrawing from the treaty, Council of Europe’s Secretary General, Marija Pejinovi Buri, described the decision as “devastating.”
“This move is a huge setback to these efforts, and all the more deplorable because it compromises the protection of women in Turkey, across Europe and beyond,” she said, as reported by the Associated Press.
The Istanbul Convention declares that equal rights must be protected between men and women, obligates states to work to prevent violence against women, as well as prosecute perpetrators.
In Turkey, women’s groups and others have called for demonstrations to protest the annulling of the Istanbul Convention.
Since the start of 2021, 77 women have been killed in Turkey, according to women’s rights advocates. In 2020, 409 women were killed, according to the group.
Meanwhile, Zehra Zumrut Selcuk, Turkey’s minister for family, labor and social policies, noted that women’s rights continue to be protected by Turkish laws. Also, she called the judicial system “dynamic and strong enough” to enact new regulations to protect women.
Selcuk further said that violence against women is a crime against humanity, noting that the government of Turkey will continue to have”zero tolerance” for it.
