Turkey's unlawful withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention is no longer an "allegation" as the top prosecutors confirm
GHRTV
10-03-2022
Idil Igdir
Women’s Rights Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
Almost a year has passed since Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, announced the horrific decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention by presidential decree nº3718 - in other words, by him - and 277 women were murdered, while 247 women died suspiciously from March 8, 2021, to March 8, 2022 (Kadin Cinayetlerini Durduracagiz Platformu - Platform to Stop Femicide, Report March 8). Moreover, the Turkish government justified this decision by stating that the Istanbul Convention served as a tool to "normalize homosexuality", which is unacceptable as it is "incompatible with Turkey’s social and family values".
To put it simply, the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, also known as the "Istanbul Convention", is an international treaty that aims to create a legal framework and standards to protect women and girls from all forms of violence, and thus prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence. This convention is supported by the Council of Europe and legally binds the states parties. In light of this, it calls on governments to enact legislation consistent with the aforementioned Convention that protects women from a wide range of forms of violence, as well as from marital rape and female genital mutilation. Moreover, the importance of the Istanbul Convention also stems from the fact that it is the first international document that protects women against all forms of violence in a comprehensive legal framework.
Regarding its importance for women, many individuals and organizations revolted against this sudden withdrawal, but the Council of State, the highest judicial authority in administrative cases, rejected the request for annulment of the relevant Presidential Decree on 29 June 2021. However, even with this decision, the Turkish people did not give up trying to put the Convention into force again and reveal the illegality of the procedure.
Furthermore, in 2022, the top court’s prosecutor, Aytaç Kurt, explained that in order for Turkey to legally withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, a new law should have been passed in the Turkish Parliament, but in this case, this did not happen. Therefore, after a new lawsuit was filed for the annulment of the presidential decree nº3718, the above-mentioned opinion of the Prosecutor was submitted to the 10th Chamber of the Council of State.
Thus, as the prosecutor confirmed himself "the President's decision to withdraw from the Convention is unlawful and should be canceled”. Later on, he also reiterated his emphasis on the need to protect the Istanbul Convention, which is considered to have the force of law and has duly entered into force.
As of 2022, the presidential election in Turkey, scheduled for June 2023, is approaching and the main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has not hesitated to highlight one of the major issues for Turkish women in his speech at the weekly CHP group meeting on March 8, 2022. He promised that if his party wins the next elections, Turkey will return to the Istanbul Convention.
Sources and Further Reading :
(July 1, 2021) “Turkey’s withdrawal from Istanbul Convention a setback for women and girls’ human rights”, ICJ, International Commission of Jurists.
(March 9, 2022) “Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız Platformu: Bir yılda 277 kadın katledildi, 247 kadın şüpheli şekilde öldü”, T24.
KARAR, (March 8, 2022) “Danıştay Savcısı: İstanbul Sözleşmesi'nin feshi hukuki değil”, Karar.
SCF, (March 3, 2022) “Top prosecutor says Turkey’s withdrawal from Istanbul Convention was unlawful”, Stockholm Center For Freedom.
Istanbul-BIA News Desk, (March 9, 2022) “Main opposition leader Kılıçdaroğlu promises to bring back İstanbul Convention”, English Bianet.
