Turkey’s withdrawal from İstanbul Convention is final: What will happen now?

* Photo: Evrim Kepenek/bianet

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"The annulment of the İstanbul Convention naturally encourages men a lot.

"We saw this at the time when we had not yet officially withdrawn from the Convention; we saw it in the messages sent to women on social media and the number on violence reported in the press.

"Men think, 'The Convention is no longer in force, we may inflict violence on women as we wish and go unpunished.' In fact, this is not the case. There are other international conventions that Turkey is a party to.

"In Turkey, there is the Law no. 6284 of the Protection of Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women and Constitution against violence.

"Turkey is also a country which signed the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It might be problematic when it comes to executing the ECtHR judgements, but it is still obliged to abide by them in the end."

This is how lawyer Benan Molu comments on Turkey's withdrawal from the İstanbul Convention by a Presidential decision in mid-March 2021, which has become final as of today (July 1), according to the Article 80 of the İstanbul Convention regarding denunciation.

As rightly put by Amnesty International in a statement yesterday, "President Erdoğan's announcement of the decision to quit the landmark treaty on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence will go down in history as the first time a Council of Europe member has withdrawn from an international human rights convention."

This decision affects millions of women, children and LGBTI+s in Turkey and aggravates the ones already at risk even further.

'A shame'

Speaking to bianet within this context, lawyer Benan Molu notes that Turkey has officially withdrawn from the İstanbul Convention as of today:

"Turkey officially pulled out of the İstanbul Convention today. This is a historical shame. Unless the Constitution is abolished or Turkey withdraws from the ECHR by a midnight decree, the state will be obligated to protect women, children and LGBTI+s from all types of violence.

"The opposition has to explain that even though Turkey has withdrawn from the Convention, there is still a penal system against violence.

Turkey still has a penal system and laws against violence.

'Only the government can start a process'

"Withdrawing from the Convention is at the discretion of governments. We have pulled out of the Convention as per its Article 80. The only way from now on is that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government or another government starts a process to become a party again.

"The İstanbul Convention offers very wide-scale protections; but there are still criminal liabilities in both the penal laws and the Law no. 6284.

"There is also the Article 90 of the Constitution; according to this article, in case of a conflict concerning fundamental rights and freedoms, the provisions of international agreements shall prevail. As long as Turkey does not withdraw from the ECHR, it is obliged to fulfill its obligations. It is obliged to protect women, children and LGBTI+s from violence.

"The ECtHR is the authority monitoring whether the İstanbul Convention is implemented or not. As long as we do not leave the ECtHR's jurisdiction in the middle of the night, we have responsibilities. There are penalties for the types of violence governed by the ECtHR's jurisprudence.

"You either do not become a party to an international convention or you express reservations for some articles. This is not the case here. You signed it, you were the first country to ratify it, the Convention was named after your city and you withdrew from that Convention. It is very sad and shameful. 

This is a first for the Council and a historical shame for everyone.

What happened?

Turkey has withdrawn from the İstanbul Convention with a Presidential decision published in the Official Gazette on March 20, 2021.

The decision in question said 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 decision published at midnight, several social media users, women's rights defenders, lawyers and politicians, 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 decision.

After the Presidential decision pulling Turkey out of the İstanbul Convention was met with criticisms and objections in both Turkey and around the world, the Communications Directorate of the Presidency released a written statement about the issue on March 22.

"As known, Turkey was the first signatory to the Istanbul Convention," the statement noted, arguing that the "İstanbul Convention, originally intended to promote women's rights, was hijacked by a group of people attempting to normalize homosexuality – which is incompatible with Turkey's social and family values. Hence the decision to withdraw."

The 10th Chamber of the Council of State finalized the court cases demanding the stay of execution and annulment of the Presidential decision withdrawing Turkey from the İstanbul Convention ahead of July 1, when the İstanbul Convention will no longer be in force in Turkey, according to the Article 80 of the Convention regarding denunciation.

By a vote of three to two, the 10th Chamber of the Council of State has rejected the requests for the stay of execution and annulment of the Presidential decision, which has pulled Turkey out of the İstanbul Convention, or the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence. (EMK/SD)