Turkey formally withdraws from the Istanbul Convention

H Turkey today formally withdrew from the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Violence against Women, as announced in March by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan provoking strong reactions from many Turks, but also from the West.

Thousands of people are expected to demonstrate across Turkey, where on Tuesday the Council of State rejected the application to annul the country's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention.

«We will continue our fight,» Chanan Gulu, president of the Turkish Confederation of Women's Organizations, said yesterday, Wednesday. «Turkey is shooting itself in the foot with this decision.».

Gulu pointed out that since March, women and other vulnerable groups have been even more reluctant to seek help and less likely to receive it, while the pandemic covid-19, with the lockdown and the economic crisis it has caused, has increased incidents of gender-based violence.

The Istanbul Convention was adopted in 2011 and countries that have signed it commit to taking measures to prevent domestic violence, prosecute perpetrators and promote gender equality.

Ankara's decision in March to withdraw from the convention drew condemnation from the US and the EU, while some argued that the move further distances Turkey from Europe.

Femicide has been on the rise in Turkey, with one organisation recording about one every day for the last five years.

However, many conservatives in Turkey, including within Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP), claim that the Istanbul Convention undermines the family values that protect society. They also believe that the Convention promotes homosexuality through its principle against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

«Our country's withdrawal from the Convention will not cause legal or practical loopholes in the prevention of violence against women,» the Turkish president's office said in a letter to the Council of State. The latter considered the request to annul the decision to withdraw Turkey from the Convention, but ruled that Erdogan has «the power» to enforce it.