22 MPs ask minister a single question: Conscience or İstanbul Convention?

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22 women MPs of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) have addressed a Parliamentary question to Minister of Family, Labor and Social Services Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk about the İstanbul Convention.

In their joint question to Selçuk amid protests against Turkey's withdrawal from the convention, the MPs have asked only a single question: "As the Minister of Family, Labor and Social Services and as a woman, with what will you protect yourself when you are subjected to violence?"

Offering two possible answers for the question, namely "conscience" and İstanbul Convention", the MPs have said:

"The fact that at least three women are killed in Turkey everyday, women are subjected to all types of male violence, mobbing, labor exploitation and discrimination at home, in the workplace and public space and they are left defenseless in the face of 'male judiciary' in the halls of courhouses justifies the reactions against the withdrawal from the convention."

Referring to ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who issued the decision pulling Turkey out of the İstanbul Convention on March 19, HDP MPs have raised concerns that "the President himself gives instructions to the judges, telling them to 'give a judgement based on not laws, but on their consciences.'

They have underlined that "these attempts to deprive women of their legal guarantees with such instructions show that the reactions against the withdrawal from the İstanbul Convention are justified."

Single question to Minister

Accordingly, the HDP MPs have asked the following question:

"As the Minister of Family, Labor and Social Services and as a woman, with what will you protect yourself from when you are subjected to violence?

"A) Conscience B) İstanbul Convention"

The undersigned MPs: Meral Danış - Beştaş, Ayşe Acar - Başaran, Ayşe Sürücü, Dersim Dağ, Dilan Dirayet Taşdemir, Dilşat Canbaz Kaya, Ebru Günay, Fatma Kurtulan, Feleknas Uca, Filiz Kerestecioğlu, Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit, Hüda Kaya, Muazzez Orhan, Nuran İmir, Oya Ersoy, Pero Dündar, Remziye Tosun, Semra Güzel, Serpil Kemalbay, Şevin Coşkun, Tülay Hatimoğulları, Züleyha Gülüm. (EMK/SD)