Several thousand women demonstrated on Wednesday August 5 across Turkey to ask the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to withdraw from an international treaty aimed at better combating domestic violence.
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In Istanbul, several hundred of them gathered, holding up placards proclaiming that " women will not forgive any violence ", or others on which were inscribed the names of women killed by men, according to correspondents. AFP. “ They are attacking the rights that women have won by struggling. But we are in the streets, in the squares to defend our rights. We will not let go , ”a demonstrator, Sinem Ozkan, 31, told AFP.
Police stops
Other rallies took place in the main cities of the country, such as Ankara and Izmir (west), where a dozen demonstrators were arrested by the police, according to the association Femmes solidaires NAR. This mobilization aims to support the Istanbul Convention, a treaty adopted in 2011 by the Council of Europe (which brings together 47 countries including Turkey) which sets legally binding standards to prevent gender-based violence.
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For several weeks, conservative associations and media have urged Erdogan to withdraw Turkey from this treaty, considering in particular that it “ harms family values ” and “ trivializes homosexuality ”. Officials of Erdogan's Islamo-conservative party, AKP, have raised the possibility of a withdrawal, raising concern among many associations. The AKP is due to make a decision next week, according to media reports.
They were several hundred. YASIN AKGUL / AFP
For women's rights activists, a withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention would weaken the fight against domestic violence. They also accuse the authorities of not applying with enough firmness the laws passed after the ratification of the treaty in 2012, which according to them explains the increase in the number of femicides in recent years.
According to the platform " We will put an end to feminicides ", 474 women were killed in Turkey in 2019, against 440 in 2018 and 180 in 2010. " All Turkish women, without political distinction, need this convention ", estimates Benazir Coskun , 31, came to demonstrate in Istanbul. " We are convinced that if women are united, we will succeed in preventing this withdrawal ."
