US lambasts Turkey’s withdrawal from Istanbul Convention amid protests

Decision announced in March by Erdogan took effect on Thursday despite demonstrations across the country

Feminist activists protest against Turkey's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention. Reuters

The US has blasted Ankara's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention -- which aims to combat violence against women -- after the move went into effect on Thursday amid protests across Turkey condemning the government’s decision.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his intent to withdraw in March, saying Ankara would use local laws to enforce women’s rights instead. The withdrawal came a decade after the international treaty was signed and ratified in Turkey's biggest city, Istanbul.

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The US State Department condemned Mr Erdogan’s decision and lamented Turkey’s exit from the international agreement.

“Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention is deeply disappointing and a step backward for the international ​effort to end violence against women,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention is deeply disappointing and a step backward for the international ​effort to end violence against women. We urge all states to strengthen their prevention of and response to all forms of gender-based violence.

— Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) July 1, 2021

The We Will Stop Femicide Platform, a Turkish NGO that raises awareness about gender-based violence, reported that at least 300 women were murdered in the country in 2020.

Right now: Protests in Istanbul against Turkish government’s withdrawal from the #IstanbulConvention. “Without equality - no justice”, people shout. Many are afraid of losing existing rights. Domestic violence, femicides are on the rise, acc. to rights groups. pic.twitter.com/aSLy55d1CH

— Julia Hahn (@juliahahntv) July 1, 2021

The protests continued into the night despite a heavy police crackdown.

Women take to streets in Istanbul to protest its gov's pullout from the Istanbul Convention today, a treaty working to end violence against women. This as femicides grow in Turkey. Here they try to cross a barricade blocking march-eventually pushed back. pic.twitter.com/9T29PHpArR

— Louis Fishman لوي فيشمان לואי פישמן (@Istanbultelaviv) July 1, 2021

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women called Turkey’s decision deeply regrettable and urged the government to reverse it.

“The adoption of this decision in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic has the potential to deepen the protection gap for women and girls during a time when gender-based violence against women is on the rise,” the committee said in a statement.

It added that Turkey is undermining “the recognition of peremptory norms of international law such as the prohibition of torture, femicide and other grievous forms of gender-based violence".

Updated: July 1st 2021, 7:31 PM