İYİ Party leader calls on Erdoğan to support Istanbul Convention

ANKARA

Turkey should embrace the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty on preventing and combating violence against women, İYİ (Good) Party Meral Akşener said on July 28.

Speaking at her party’s parliamentary group meeting, Akşener called on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to fully implement the articles of the convention instead of withdrawing from the treaty.

Saying that the government ignored the problems of the country, Akşener noted, “No fabricated agenda will change the fact that the country has the highest level of violence against women among 34 OECD countries. Recently, 27-year-old Pınar Gültekin was murdered. Turkey has to get rid of this embarrassment.”

“We will destroy the world if any woman even sheds a tear and we will build a new one,” she said.

“Men and women must love every individual. Therefore, I invite Mr. Erdoğan to try to implement it instead of canceling the Istanbul Convention,” she stated.

The Istanbul Convention has become a topic of intense debate after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) indicated the government can withdraw from the convention, with one official saying signing it was a “mistake” despite increasing numbers of femicides in the country.

 The convention, women’s rights groups say, provides a ground for women to be protected against domestic violence and femicides – both issues commonplace in Turkey. The groups have said the government has not stayed loyal to the convention, signed and ratified in 2014, which is why femicides have been on the rise.