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Protests for women's rights in Istanbul
Photo: Emrah Gurel / AP
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) and other EU foreign ministers have sharply criticized the Turkish government for terminating the Istanbul Convention.
The international agreement of 2011 calls for better protection for women against domestic violence, for example.
The Turkish government decided to withdraw from the international agreement on the weekend with the argument that women would be protected by Turkish laws.
According to a non-governmental organization, murders of women in Turkey have tripled in the past ten years.
The withdrawal from the agreement and the ban proceedings against the pro-Kurdish party HDP are "absolutely the wrong signs," said Maas in Brussels before the EU foreign ministers' deliberations.
Overall, there are »light and shadow« in relations with Turkey, according to Maas.
In the conflict with Greece over gas production in the eastern Mediterranean, for example, there was a détente.
You have to stay in the dialogue in order to be able to talk about critical topics.
Turkey was once proud of the agreement
Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, however, attacked the Turkish government sharply.
In his opinion it is "absolutely incomprehensible" that a country in which there are daily female deaths of domestic violence should dissolve the convention.
He still remembers the day in May 2011 when Turkey signed the agreement in Istanbul and was "incredibly proud" of this step against violence against women, Asselborn said in Brussels.
"This is a way back to the Middle Ages," he said of the current decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
At the weekend, EU representatives, the Council of Europe, the German government and the US government asked Turkey to reverse its decision to leave.
US President Joe Biden described the move as "very disappointing."
The Council of Europe condemned the "devastating news" as a "major blow" to efforts to protect women.
The EU foreign ministers want to discuss relations with Turkey in the run-up to the EU summit on Thursday.
There is also the question of possible sanctions.
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ire / Reuters
