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Demo in Istanbul: "I'm standing up for myself"
Photo: Chris McGrath / Getty Images
Hundreds of women have taken to the streets again in Turkey to protest against withdrawing from the international convention against violence against women.
In Istanbul women roamed the streets and kept chanting, "We are not afraid, we will not be silent, we will not give in." There were protests in Ankara as well.
The new demonstrations were spurred on by a new alleged femicide: A 17-year-old pregnant woman was stabbed to death in the province of Izmir, according to media reports, the suspect is the man she was living with.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had issued a decree to leave the country a week ago.
With his decision, the president accommodated conservative and Islamist circles.
They had called for the exit on the grounds that the agreement harmed family unity and promoted divorces and homosexuality.
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Police blockade in Istanbul: "We will not give in"
Photo: UMIT BEKTAS / REUTERS
Federal government criticizes Erdoğan for leaving
The exit led to violent protests in Turkey;
he was also sharply criticized abroad.
The federal government called for the decision to be withdrawn.
The EU and US President Joe Biden were also appalled.
The Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe is the world's first binding agreement of its kind. The signatories, including Germany, undertake to better protect women and girls from violence by prosecuting the perpetrators - be it at home or elsewhere.
According to the agreement, “violence” includes not only physical violence, but also gender-specific discrimination, intimidation or economic exploitation.
In the past few months, thousands of women in Istanbul and other cities took to the streets calling for the agreement to be adhered to.
The activists see the Istanbul Convention as the key to combating the rise in domestic violence.
Last year, Turkey saw a renewed increase in the number of murders of women.
According to the human rights organization Amnesty International, the number of femicides had already increased by around 60 percent between 2015 and 2019 - from 303 to 474 cases.
AFP / slü