‘We don’t accept one man’s decision’

* Photos: Evrim Kepenek & Ayşegül Özbek - bianet

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After President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a decree foreseeing Turkey's withdrawal from the İstanbul Convention, women have taken to the streets to protest this decision, saying, "İstanbul Convention saves lives."

In İstanbul, women came together in Kadıköy and read out the names of women killed by me. After each name, they shouted, "She is alive."

Chanting slogans and banners that read "İstanbul Convention saves lives" and "We don't recognize the one man's decision", women reiterated that they will not give up on the İstanbul Convention.

'They want to condemn us to violence'

Tuğçe Canbolat from the "Implement the İstanbul Convention Group" read out the statement for the press on behalf of the women.

Canbolat's statement underlined that the decision to withdraw from the convention is a great source of shame for Turkey," saying, "The misogynist, religionist and conservative campaign run against the İstanbul Convention has given results and yesterday, in the middle of the night, Turkey pulled out from the İstanbul Convention by a Presidential decree."

Referring to the people and groups calling for Turkey's withdrawal from the convention for a long time now, Canbolat said, "They hate the İstanbul Convention, because they want to condemn women to violence. They want that women cannot say no, they do not raise their voices against violence and do not give decisions themselves about their own lives."

"Those who do misogyny, saying that family structure is undermined and society's values fall into pieces, defend an order of society and family where women and children are subjected to all types of violence."

Concluding the statement, she reiterated that "women never accept the decision of withdrawal from the convention," briefly adding, "The words of a group of men, the decision of the one man are null and void for women! We will keep struggling until İstanbul Convention is implemented in the way it needs to be implemented and male violence ends."

In Turkey's western Bursa province, women came together at the Fomara Square upon the call of the Bursa Women's Platform.

Calling on the Parliament to fulfil its duty, women, surrounded by the police, chanted the slogans, "Woman, life, freedom", "Don't hush, but shout, homosexuals are here" and "feminicides are political."

They also carried banners that read, "Protect women, not murderers", "Withdraw the decision, enforce the convention", "Long live women, long live queers", "We are sick of men, I have no tolerance even for a single man" and "Violence is everywhere, solution is at Parliament."

* Photo: Kampüs Cadıları

Women came together in Turkey's Aegean province of İzmir upon the call of the "We don't give up on İstanbul Convention" campaign group.

They held a statement for the press to protest Turkey's decision to withdraw from the İstanbul Convention. Meeting in front of the Türkan Saylan Cultural Center in Alsancak, women carried a banner that read, "İstanbul Convention is ours, we won't give up on it."

Women also chanted the slogans, "World will be shaken if women are free", "This is just the beginning, struggle will continue" and "Jin, jiyan, azadi" and "Woman, life, freedom" in Kurdish and Turkish.

What happened?

Turkey has withdrawn from the İstanbul Convention with a Presidential decree published in the Official Gazette earlier today (March 20).

The decree in question says that "the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, which was signed by Turkey on May 11, 2011 and approved with the Cabinet Decree no. 2012/2816 on February 10, 2012, shall be terminated on the part of Turkey as per the Article 3 of the Presidential Decree no. 9."

Following this Presidential decree published at midnight, several social media users, women's rights defenders, lawyers and politicians, have denounced the decision, recalling that the convention was unanimously approved at the Parliament and stressing that it is not possible for Turkey to withdraw from an international convention with a Presidential decree. (EMK/AÖ/RT/SD)