Recep Tayyip Erdoğan withdrew Turkey from an international agreement designed to protect women, the country’s official daily said on Saturday, despite calls from activists who see the pact as the key to combating the rise in domestic violence.
The Council of Europe agreement, signed in Istanbul, promised to prevent, prosecute and eliminate domestic violence and promote equality. Turkey, which signed the agreement in 2011, saw an increase in femicide last year.
No reason was provided for the withdrawal, but officials from the Turkish President’s AK Party said last year that the government was considering giving up amid a discussion on how to curb growing violence against women.
“The guarantee of women’s rights are the norms in force in our statute, mainly in our constitution. Our judicial system is dynamic and strong enough to implement new regulations as needed, ”said Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policies, Zehra Zumrut, on Twitter, without providing a reason for the change.
Many conservatives in Turkey say the pact weakens family structures, encouraging violence. They are also hostile to the principle of gender equality in the Istanbul convention and see it as a promoter of homosexuality, given its principle of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Critics of the pact’s withdrawal said it would make Turkey even more out of step with the values of the European Union, which it remains a candidate to join.
They argue that the agreement and the legislation passed in its wake need to be implemented more rigorously.
Turkey is not the first country to abandon the agreement. Poland’s highest court examined the pact after a cabinet member said Warsaw should give up the treaty that the nationalist government considers too liberal.
Erdoğan condemned violence against women, including saying this month that his government would work to eradicate violence against women. But critics say his government has not done enough to prevent femicide and domestic violence.
Turkey does not maintain official statistics on femicide. Data from the World Health Organization show that 38% of women in Turkey are victims of violence from a partner during their lifetime, compared with about 25% in Europe.
Ankara has taken steps such as tagging individuals known to resort to violence and creating a smartphone app for women to alert the police, which has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times.
Erdoğan’s decision was made after he unveiled judicial reforms this month that, he said, would improve rights and freedoms and help comply with EU standards. Turkey has been a candidate to join the bloc since 2005, but access negotiations have been interrupted due to political differences and Ankara’s human rights record.