ISTANBUL (Reuters) – U.S. and European leaders have denounced what they called baffling and a decision to withdraw an international agreement designed to protect women from violence and urged President Tayyip Erdogan to reconsider.
Erdogan’s government withdrew on Saturday from the Istanbul Convention, which it signed in 2011 after being forged in Turkey’s largest city. Turkey said national laws, not out of solutions, would protect women’s rights.
The Council of Europe is committed to preventing, prosecuting and eliminating domestic violence and promoting equality. Women’s killings have risen in Turkey in recent years and thousands of women protested on Saturday against the government’s decision in Istanbul and other cities.
The United States, Germany, France and the European Union responded with dismay, marking the second time in four days that European leaders criticized Ankara for rights issues, after a Turkish prosecutor moved to close a pro-Kurdish political party. .
U.S. President Joe Biden said Turkey’s withdrawal from the deal was “deeply disappointing” and a step back in efforts to end violence against women globally.
“All over the world, we are seeing an increase in the number of incidents of domestic violence, including reports of increased femicide in Turkey,” Biden said in a statement on Sunday. “Countries should work to strengthen and renew their commitments to end violence against women, not rejecting international treaties aimed at protecting women and holding abusers accountable.”
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Saturday afternoon that the decision was incomprehensible and “runs the risk of compromising the protection and fundamental rights of women and girls in Turkey (i) sends a message dangerous all over the world. … Therefore, we cannot stop urging Turkey to reverse its decision. “
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who spoke with Erdogan a day before Turkey left the pact, wrote on Twitter on Sunday: “Women deserve a firm legal framework to protect them” and called on everyone the signatories ratifying it.
The Council of Europe, which brings together 47 member states, also regretted the decision.
The convention had divided Erdogan’s AK (ruling AK) party and even his family. Officials floated last year amid a dispute over how to curb domestic violence in Turkey, where feminicide has tripled in ten years, according to a control group.
But many conservatives in Turkey and Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AKP say the pact undermines family structures and encourages violence. Some are also hostile to their stance against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
“The Istanbul Convention, originally intended to promote women’s rights, was hijacked by a group of people trying to normalize homosexuality, which is incompatible with Turkey’s social and family values. Hence the decision to retire, “Turkey’s presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun said in a statement.
Paris said Turkey’s withdrawal marked a further regression in terms of human rights, while Berlin said neither culture, nor religion, nor tradition could “serve as an excuse to ignore violence against women.” .
Diplomatic tension comes after Europe and the United States last week said the move to close parliament’s third-largest party, the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), undermined democracy in Turkey.
In their video call on Friday, Erdogan, Von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel discussed a dispute, which has cooled, over marine resources in the eastern Mediterranean.
This week, an EU summit will address relations with Ankara.
Jonathan Spicer Reports; Additional reports by Andrea Shalal in Washington and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris; Edited by Frances Kerry, Barbara Lewis and Daniel Wallis