Turkey withdraws from European Convention on women protection, Europe criticizes
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Saturday, Turkey announced its withdrawal from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as Istanbul Convention.
The convention, which aims at prevention of violence, victim protection and ending the impunity of perpetrators, was signed by 45 countries.
While Turkey did not provide any reason or justification for its withdrawal, but last year, officials of the ruling party – AKP – said, Turkey is thinking about the withdrawal from the convention, amid disputes on how to curb the rising violence against women.
The conservatives believes that the convention threatens the “unity of the family” and “encourages divorce.”
While those criticizes the withdrawal described it as a “devastative” step.
Meanwhile, the European Council considered Turkey’s withdrawal from the convention as a “major setback” regarding the efforts to protect the women.
Data by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that 38% of the women in Turkey are experiencing violence, while it is 25% in Europe.