"İstanbul Convention saves lives" (Photo: Zeynep Kuray)
Click to read the article in Turkish
Releasing a joint statement member states of the Council of Europe have called on Turkey to return to the İstanbul Convention.
"We deeply regret the decision of the President of Turkey to withdraw from the İstanbul Convention," says the statement. "The decision is difficult to understand as it jeopardizes the protection of women's rights in Turkey and sends a disturbing message to all women and men across Europe and beyond."
President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 20 issued a decree pulling Turkey out of the convention. The abrupt move has attracted criticism and protests from women's rights groups and opposition parties.
Also, several cases have been filed with courts against the move, the legal validity which is questioned as critics say a parliamentary decision is needed to exit the convention. Turkey in September 2011 became the first country to ratify the treaty in its parliament.
"We call on the Turkish Government to withdraw its notification of denunciation and renew its commitment to the İstanbul Convention. It is time to stop claiming that the Convention includes a hidden agenda," the statement says, referring to such allegations that the convention "encourages homosexuality" and aims to "destroy the family," which have also been voiced by pro-AKP circles against the convention.
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Here is the full text of the statement:
More than 3,000 women are killed each year in Europe by their intimate partners or family members and countless more are hurt and harassed. The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the İstanbul Convention, is the most far-reaching legal instrument to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence, as well as to ensure protection for victims and to bring perpetrators to justice. The İstanbul Convention has had a documented positive effect on the lives of women, children, families and entire communities. The implementation of the Convention has improved legislation, support services, training of professionals and awareness raising, among other benefits. We call on all member States of the Council of Europe to ratify the Convention and benefit from its standards as well as from the tailor-made recommendations, scrutiny and support offered by GREVIO. We deeply regret the decision of the President of Turkey to withdraw from the İstanbul Convention. The decision is difficult to understand as it jeopardizes the protection of women's rights in Turkey and sends a disturbing message to all women and men across Europe and beyond. On the eve of the tenth anniversary of the Convention, and at a time of a pandemic when gender-based violence has risen significantly all over the world, this ambitious legal instrument to protect women and girls from violence is being willfully undermined by one of its first signatory States, who has even lent its name to the Convention. The denunciation of the Convention happened just as the world's women were gathering at the UN Commission on the Status of Women. In addition, it will mean Turkey withdrawing from the Convention on July 1st, during the Generation Equality Forum in Paris, the most important international conference for women's rights since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995. Turkey's withdrawal constitutes a disappointing signal also from the point of view of our common rules-based multilateral order. We cherish the fact that international human rights instruments, such as the İstanbul Convention, help guarantee that all human rights, including women's rights, are vindicated. National measures alone do not reach the same level of protection. We call on the Turkish Government to withdraw its notification of denunciation and renew its commitment to the İstanbul Convention. It is time to stop claiming that the Convention includes a hidden agenda. The İstanbul Convention does not set new standards in relation to gender identity and sexual orientation. Nor does it provide for the legal recognition of same-sex couples. The Convention does however provide excellent tools to combat gender-based stereotypes assodated with violence against women, and most importantly leaves it up to national legislation to define how this should be done. Governments have a legal obligation to protect the rights of LGBTI persons, including under the European Convention on Human Rights and according to the standards set by the Committee of Ministers, but not primarily under the İstanbul Convention. This completely new situation, where the President of a member State of the Council of Europe has denounced a key Human Rights Convention, cannot remain unquestioned. We commend the statement of 21 March made by the German Chairmanship, the Secretary General and the President of the Parliamentary Assembly and ask the Secretary General and her staff to continue to be seized of the matter. We look forward to further detailed discussions, including about strengthened commitments to combat violence against women and domestic violence. Finally, we call on all signatories of the İstanbul Convention to accelerate steps towards its ratification in 2021. |
(EMK/VK)
