London, September 3 (HNA) – The Turkish president no doubt thinks his decision to de-ratify the Istanbul convention is irreversible. “We are not afraid, we will not be silenced, we will not obey,” wrote Selin Sayek Böke, Secretary-General of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the main opposition party, on Social Europe.
“In the dark hours of March 20th, a presidential decision was issued in Turkey, through which the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, unilaterally withdrew the state from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, the Istanbul convention”
“This decree deprives women and girls in Turkey of the gold standard of safety and at the same time sends a recklessly dangerous message to perpetrators who abuse, maim and kill: they can carry on, with impunity” she stressed and went on as follows:
“Turkey was the first Council of Europe member state to sign the Istanbul convention in 2011—the city was hosting a meeting of the Committee of Ministers that May—supported by a unanimous vote in the Grand National Assembly.
“This strong consensus across all political parties, reflecting the popular will, was cast aside by Erdoğan’s act of fiat. The lack of any parliamentary deliberation was very much in the spirit of the regime change of 2018—when Erdoğan introduced an executive presidency—which has accelerated the erosion of the rule of law and democracy in the country.
“Still, the Istanbul Convention has powerful roots in the centuries-long political and social struggle of women for their rights. It was hard-won—not granted by the grace or favour of any political power or individual. Today in Turkey millions of women persevere with these ideals and are not giving up. Indeed, they had been demanding more effective enforcement of the convention—not its annulment.
“That demand has now become that Turkey recommits to the Istanbul Convention. Tens of thousands of women, from all walks of life, have joined protests against the withdrawal with a united voice: ‘We are not afraid, we will not be silenced, we will not obey.'”
Selin Sayek Böke is a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe. She previously held assistant, visiting and associate professor roles respectively in economics at the universities of Bentley, Georgetown and Bilkent and worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and with the World Bank (WB).