HDP withdraws from Parliamentary Commission on Violence Against Women

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The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MPs have announced that they have withdrawn from the Parliamentary Commission Established with the Aim of Inquiring the Causes of Violence Against Women in All Aspects and Determining Necessary Measures to be Taken.

As the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and İYİ Party MPs also withdrew from the Commission, the Commission now has only members from the ruling alliance, namely the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

CLICK - 'Commission legitimizes withdrawal from İstanbul Convention'

'Our words not taken into consideration'

The MPs of the HDP held a press conference at the Parliament yesterday (June 30) and explained the reasons behind their decision.

Speaking at the conference, HDP Ankara MP Filiz Kerestecioğlu underlined that "they preferred staying at the Commission for Inquiring the Causes of Violence Against Women in order to push the abandonment of the decision withdrawing Turkey from the İstanbul Convention."

Similarly, we wanted our presence to give women's organizations the opportunity to come to the commission and say their words.

Referring to the Council of State's rejection of the requests seeking the stay of execution and annulment of the Presidential decision pulling Turkey out of the Convention, Kerestecioğlu said that "both this Council of State ruling and the policies that the government has pursued so far have shown that they are insistent on the termination of the İstanbul Convention."

For this reason, as of today, we have withdrawn from the Commission for Inquiring the Causes of Violence Against Women.

'Detention on the street, 'zero violence' at Parliament'

Speaking further about the İstanbul Convention, Kerestecioğlu said:

"Even though we asked the ministers and members from the AKP why Turkey has withdrawn from the İstanbul Convention, which they boast of being the first signatory of, we have net received a clear answer.

"As of today, it is neither possible nor right for us to be in the Commission any longer in the face of the disregard of millions of women's will.

"On the one side, they condone that the women who say, 'We don't give up on the İstanbul Convention' are harassed, humiliated and taken into custody by being beaten by the police in Ankara, a few blocks away from the Parliament; on the other side, they say 'Zero tolerance to violence' at the Parliament, which is nothing other than hypocrisy."

According to Kerestecioğlu, "the commission does not have any convincingness left in the eyes of society as it has become a routine practice that students, journalists and LGBTI+s are detained with their throats pressed and violence and militarism are instigated to such an extent."

Referring to the armed attack that claimed the life of Deniz Poyraz in the HDP İzmir office, Kerestecioğlu said, "In an environment where even the courtesy of extending condolences for Deniz Poyraz, whom we lost in the attack against our İzmir Provincial Building, is not shown, no equality, justice of freedom can be expected for either women or society as a whole."

After July 1, the only function of this Commission will be to try to pull the government out of the mud it has fallen. Yes, we are not in this game.

'No negotiation at the Commission'

Further in her statement, HDP Ankara MP Filiz Kerestecioğlu asked, "What did we live at the Commission" and briefly explained it as follows:

"There was no negotiation at the Commission; the democratic customary practices were not observed. An environment of negotiation was never established at the Commission. At the very first meeting, the Commission Chair openly declared that she was asking our opinions out of courtesy. The opinions and other responsibilities of the members were not taken into account when setting the dates of the meetings.

"We have once again seen that instead of asking itself, 'Why couldn't we prevent violence', the government prefered pretending."

Concluding her speech, Kerestecioğlu stressed:

"Violence cannot be prevented by naturalizing inequalities. Violence stems from male domination. Both the MPs of the government and the ministers and bureaucrats avoid expressing the source of the violence correctly. What is more grave is that they made logic-defying suggestions that would aggravate violence, let alone prevent it and the Commission has turned into a place where the government propagandizes for itself." (EMK/SD)