Turkey officially quits Istanbul Convention

The Council of State, Turkey’s highest administrative body, made its final ruling on Turkey's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention saying the decision by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to pull Turkey out of the convention was "in accordance with the law."

With the ruling, Turkey officially quit the convention.

When the withdrawal of Turkey by a presidential decree was announced in March 2021, many women’s rights associations protested the decision and filed lawsuits against the decree.

The Istanbul Convention, officially The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, is an international accord designed to protect women’s rights and prevent domestic violence in societies and was opened to signature of member countries of the Council of Europe in 2011.

At least 392 women were murdered by men and 226 women died under suspicious circumstances in Turkey in 2022, according to data from the We Will Stop Femicide Platform.

The Council of State’s decision sparked reaction among women in Turkey.

“The decisions taken by the male dominated establishment and judgment are null and void for us women! We will win equality and freedom with our women's struggle!” tweeted Pervin Buldan, Co-Chair of the HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party.

“Go on, be afraid of women. We, 85 million hand in hand, are coming to sign the Istanbul Convention,” Good Party leader Meral Aksener tweeted, and asked the judges if it was also lawful “to call women sluts,” referring to an earlier speech by President Erdogan.