No legal problem in withdrawal from Istanbul Convention: Erdoğan

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention through a presidential decree is fully legal, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, rebuffing criticisms made by opposition parties that suggested the move was overridden parliament’s authority.

“[The withdrawal from the convention] is not a decision to be taken by parliament. The opposition do not know anything about it. The move taken by the president is fully legal and the process will continue accordingly,” Erdoğan told reporters on March 26 following the Friday prayer in an Istanbul mosque.

The opposition parties recalled that Turkey’s joining the Istanbul Convention happened through a law adopted by all the parties in 2012 and that canceling it just through a decree is not possible. The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said it will appeal with the Council of State to annul Erdoğan’s decree.

A decree to end Turkey’s participation in the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention, a comprehensive treaty that introduces strict obligations to the party states to take all the measures to end violence against women and any sort of discrimination against women.

“These claims are nothing but made to muddy the waters,” he said, informing that Turkey’s notification to the Council of Europe concerning the withdrawal will be responded by the organization in three months.

“We make our decisions. We pull out of the convention just like we signed it. This is done,” he said.

According to the convention, any party state can demand its withdrawal from the treaty through a formal notification to the Strasbourg-based organization. The Council of Europe has three months to process the withdrawal appeal. In Turkey’s case, it will be formally withdrawn from the convention three months after it submits its notification to the organization.