Presidential statement on Turkey’s withdrawal from İstanbul Convention

* Drawing by Aslı Alpar - "İstanbul Convention saves lives"

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After the Presidential decree pulling Turkey out of the İstanbul Convention has been 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 today (March 22).

"On 20 March 2021, Turkey has unilaterally withdrawn from the Istanbul Convention. Article 80 of the Istanbul Convention permits any party to denounce it by notifying the Council of Europe," the statement said.

"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."

"Turkey will take additional steps to improve the effectiveness of existing precautions against domestic violence and violence against women as part of the Human Rights Action Plan that was unveiled in early March," pledged the Presidential Communications Directorate.

'Incompatible with Türkiye's values'

The full statement of the Directorate is as follows:

"On 20 March 2021, Türkiye has unilaterally withdrawn from the Istanbul Convention. Article 80 of the Istanbul Convention permits any party to denounce it by notifying the Council of Europe.

"As known, Türkiye was the first signatory to the Istanbul Convention by demonstrating a strong commitment to protect women's status in society and fight any violence against women. The Istanbul Convention, originally intended to promote women's rights, was hijacked by a group of people attempting to normalize homosexuality – which is incompatible with Türkiye's social and family values. Hence the decision to withdraw.

"Türkiye is not the only country who has serious concerns about the Istanbul Convention. Six members of the European Union (Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia) did not ratify the Istanbul Convention. Poland has taken steps to withdraw from the Convention, citing an attempt by the LGBT community to impose their ideas about gender on the entire society.

"The decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention by no means denotes that the State of the Republic of Türkiye "compromises the protection of women." Türkiye will not give up on its fight against domestic violence by quitting the Convention.

"In relation to the issue, President Erdoğan strongly emphasizes that Türkiye will continue protecting the safety and the rights of all women and underlines that fighting domestic violence with the principle of zero tolerance will remain on top of the government's agenda.

"Türkiye has taken concrete steps to uphold and promote women's rights and those mechanisms are still in place. Türkiye will also implement new reforms to fight violence against women. Following the withdrawal from the Convention, Türkiye will focus on measures that will address the specific needs of the society and strengthen ongoing efforts to that end. Those legal mechanisms include the Turkish Constitution as well as our nation's civil law, penal code and the Law no. 6284 on the Protection of the Family and the Prevention of Violence Against Women. Türkiye is also party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

"It must be noted that Türkiye's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention has zero impact on the implementation of strict, effective and real-world measures, including a landmark legislation that President Erdoğan's government drafted, sponsored and passed.

"Türkiye will take additional steps to improve the effectiveness of existing precautions against domestic violence and violence against women as part of the Human Rights Action Plan that was unveiled in early March."

What happened?

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

The decree 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 decree 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 decree. (EMK/SD)