CHP appeals to court against Turkey’s withdrawal from Istanbul Convention

ANKARA

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has lodged an appeal to the Council of State to nix a presidential decree to pull back Turkey from the Istanbul Convention, a multilateral Council of Europe blueprint introducing measures to stop violence against women.

“We hope that the Council of State will give priority [to our appeal] and will decide in favor of women and of Turkey,” Özgür Özel, deputy parliamentary group leader of the CHP, and CHP deputy leader Gülizar Biçer Karaca told reporters on April 22.

Özel recalled that Turkey pulled back from the Istanbul Convention on March 20 through a presidential decree although it was approved by the consent of all parties in parliament a decade ago.

The CHP’s appeal has three legal grounds, Özel informed. “First, we think that this [presidential decree] is null and void procedurally and we want the Council of State to register this. Second, we are proving that this decree is a clear breach of the constitution and we want the Council of State to nullify it,” Özel said.

The CHP’s third demand from the Council of State is the cessation of the execution of this decree because the removal from the convention has made fight against violence on women much more complicated. “The AK Party [Justice and Development Party] is trying to withdraw Turkey from the convention even though 88 women were killed only in the first three months of this year,” he stated. “Defending the Istanbul Convention is defending life. Defending the Istanbul Convention is defending the image of the contemporary Republic of Turkey in the world,” Özel stated.

For her part, Karaca, argued that the decree was in violation of the constitution and null and void in the conscience of the public opinion. She recalled that newly appointed Family and Social Services Minister Derya Yanık had described the convention as the fundamental law in preventing all sorts of violence.