Ankara [Turkey], March 21 (ANI): Turkey has sparked worldwide outrage after it withdrew from the world’s first binding treaty to prevent violence against women, Al Jazeera reported.
Ankara pulled out from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention, which aims to reduce and prevent domestic abuse against women.
Turkey was the first country to ratify the Council of Europe’s convention, which was adopted in Istanbul in 2011. The treaty earlier had 45 signatories plus the EU.
Europe’s rights body, the Council of Europe, criticized Turkey‘s withdrawal from a treaty it sponsored and expressed concern about global efforts to protect women and girls.
“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,” said Council of Europe secretary-general Marija Pejcinovic Buric in a statement.
“The Istanbul Convention covers 34 European countries and is widely regarded as the gold standard in international efforts to protect women and girls from the violence that they face every day in our societies,” she added.
French Foreign Ministry also expressed regret over Turkey‘s decision to leave the EU-backed Istanbul Convention on women’s rights.
“France deeply regrets the decision of the Turkish authorities to withdraw from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention, when Turkey was the first country to ratify it in 2011,” the ministry said in a statement.
Women’s rights are guaranteed by Turkey‘s domestic legislation, Turkey‘s Family, Labour and Social Services Minister Zehra Zumrut Selcuk said on Twitter while defending the country’s decision. (ANI)
Turkish top leaders hail withdrawal from European treaty protecting women
Turkish top leaders are supporting the country’s withdrawal from a landmark European treaty, the world’s first binding treaty to protect women from violence.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday issued a decree annulling the country’s ratification of the Council of Europe‘s Istanbul Convention, which states that men and women have equal rights and obliges state authorities to take steps to prevent gender-based violence against women, protect victims and prosecute perpetrators.
Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay took to social media to praise the decision, reported Anadolu Agency.
“We are determined to carry our sincere struggle to raise the reputation and dignity of Turkish women to the levels they deserve in the society, by preserving our traditional social fabric,” Oktay wrote on Twitter. “There is no need to seek the remedy outside, to imitate others. The solution is in our traditions and customs, in our essence.”
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu also released a statement.
“Existence or absence of international conventions does not reduce or increase our responsibilities to prevent any form of crime that our citizens will face and our work as a requirement of this responsibility,” wrote Soylu.
He noted that every sovereign state has the right to leave the party as well as become a party to international treaties and agreements.
Communications Director Fahrettin Altun also supported the decision.
“Our government will work with all its might to end violence against women and to further strengthen women’s place in social life,” he said in a statement.
Erdogan signed a decree to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention on Saturday that was signed in 2011, according to the country’s Official Gazette, reported Anadolu Agency.
Turkey was the first country to ratify the European convention adopted in Istanbul in 2011.
The convention seeks to prevent violence against women, including domestic violence, and bring an end to legal impunity for perpetrators.
While the convention was enforced in 34 countries, including Turkey, some countries — Ukraine, the UK, Czechia, Slovakia, Moldova, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Latvia, Hungary, Armenia, and Bulgaria — signed the document but have yet to ratify.
The EU signed the convention on June 13, 2017, while Council of Europe members Russia and Azerbaijan did not.
Europe’s rights body, the Council of Europe, criticized Turkey’s withdrawal from a treaty it sponsored and expressed concern about global efforts to protect women and girls.
French Foreign Ministry also expressed regret over Turkey’s decision to leave the EU-backed Istanbul Convention on women’s rights.
EU foreign policy chief calls on Turkey to reverse decision to leave European treaty on women’s rights
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Saturday called on Turkey to reverse its decision to leave the EU-backed Istanbul Convention on women’s rights, reported Sputnik.
Ankara pulled out from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention, which aims to reduce and prevent domestic abuse against women.
“Now is the time to show leadership and enhance global efforts to fight violence against women and girls, not to retreat. This is why we cannot but regret deeply and express incomprehension towards the decision of the Turkish government to withdraw from this convention that even bears the name of Istanbul. This decision risks compromising the protection and fundamental rights of women and girls in Turkey,” Borrell said in a Saturday statement.
The foreign policy chief of the EU further said that Turkey‘s decision sends a dangerous message across the world while stressing that the rights of women and girls are a fundamental element of equality and security in the 21st century.
“The Istanbul Convention is the first international legally binding instrument to combat violence against women and domestic violence. It aims at ensuring essential legal protection to women and girls across the world. This is today more important than ever, as violence against women and girls has increased to new levels worldwide as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and of the many conflicts, where women are primary victims. We, therefore, cannot but urge Turkey to reverse its decision,” Borrell remarked.
The Istanbul Convention is a human rights accord backed by the Council of Europe. Turkey was the first country to ratify the convention, which was adopted in Istanbul in 2011, Sputnik reported.
“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,” said Council of Europe secretary-general Marija Pejcinovic Buric in a statement.
“The Istanbul Convention covers 34 European countries and is widely regarded as the gold standard in international efforts to protect women and girls from the violence that they face every day in our societies,” she added.
However, Turkish top leaders are supporting the country’s withdrawal from the landmark treaty.
Taking to Twitter to praise the decision, Vice President Fuat Oktay said: “We are determined to carry our sincere struggle to raise the reputation and dignity of Turkish women to the levels they deserve in the society, by preserving our traditional social fabric. There is no need to seek the remedy outside, to imitate others. The solution is in our traditions and customs, in our essence.”
“Existence or absence of international conventions does not reduce or increase our responsibilities to prevent any form of crime that our citizens will face and our work as a requirement of this responsibility,” wrote Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. (ANI)
