Council of State rejects the annulment request of Turkey’s withdrawal from Istanbul Convention

Turkey’s Council of State on Tuesday has rejected the request for the annulment of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to withdraw the country from the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty to prevent violence against women last year.

The 10th Chamber of the country’s highest administrative court ruled by three affirmative votes against two that there was no violation of the Constitution in the process of withdrawal by a presidential decree.

Erdogan pulled Turkey out of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence by a presidential decree in March 2021.

The prosecutor of Council of State said in April that the country’s withdrawal from the convention was a violation of the law. A transaction should be terminated in accordance with the procedure in which it was established, and an agreement that entered into force with the approval law of Turkish parliament, could not be terminated by the decision of the President, argued the prosecutor and called for the annulment of the presidential decree.

Erdogan’s move has met with condemnation and protests across the country, also sparking heavy criticism from Western countries.

The convention was hijacked by a group attempting to “normalize homosexuality” according to Erdogan. Fahrettin Altun, the president’s director of communications said at the time that the treaty was incompatible with Turkey’s social and family values.

Turkey was among the first signatories of the convention.