“Turkey’s announced withdrawal from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on violence against women is devastating news,” said Marija Pejcinovic Buric, secretary general of Europe's top human rights body, the Council of Europe.
The 2011 Istanbul Convention is a binding agreement that requires governments to adopt legislation prosecuting violence against women. Ankara announced on Saturday it was pulling out of the convention.
Calling the convention the “gold standard” of efforts to protect women and girls, Buric said, “This move is a huge setback to these efforts and all the more deplorable because it compromises the protection of women in Turkey, across Europe and beyond.”
Conservatives within Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party pushed for the withdrawal, claiming the convention damaged family unity, promoted divorce and acceptance of the LGBT community.
The United Nations in Turkey said it was “deeply concerned” about the move.
“We are concerned that Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention would undermine the significant efforts invested so far to prevent and combat violence against women and may hinder progress towards further strengthening of national legislative, policy and institutional frameworks,” read a UN statement on Saturday that urged Ankara to remain committed to implementing the Istanbul Convention.
On March 2, Erdogan announced a two-year human rights action plan that he said includes measures to protect women’s rights. “The Action Plan foresees a broader network of special investigation offices across the country to investigate crimes of violence against women more effectively,” he said.
The decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention has also been harshly criticized domestically by opposition parties and women’s rights activists.
Thousands of people joined street protests calling on the government to reverse its decision, AFP reported. "Reverse your decision, apply the treaty!" crowds chanted in Istanbul.
The Women’s Assembly of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) called it a “coup by hegemonic patriarchy” that has “opened the floodgates to violence against women.”
