Today, January 2, Turkey’s State Complaints Administrative Council (İDDK) approved the country’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention for the Protection of Women’s Rights. This is stated in the court decision.
“İDDK recognized the decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention as compliant with the law. The Council decided by majority vote to reject the objection that withdrawal from the convention was against the law. After the İDDK decided to withdraw from the convention in accordance with the law, Turkey officially withdrew from the Istanbul Convention.” – reported by the Habertürk TV channel.
The Istanbul Convention itself, an international agreement of the Council of Europe against violence against women and domestic violence, was adopted in May 2011. Turkey became the first country to ratify the convention on 14 March 2012. The convention it went into effect in 2014. However, in March 2021, Erdogan announced his withdrawal from the convention, saying that the goal has been changed and henceforth the document is “incompatible with Turkey’s social and family values” . The document, in particular, introduces the concept of “gender” instead of biological sex. The document has attracted the most criticism in conservative circles, represented by the ruling Justice and Development Party.
The EU responded by criticizing Ankara’s decision.
As reported EADailyin 2021 in Moldova the parliamentary majority of the presidential party “Action and Solidarity” was adopted and the head of state Maya Sandu (herself gay) enthusiastically promulgated the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, which provides guarantees to the LGBT community and promotes homosexuality as the norm. The situation is the same in Ukraine, where the Verkhovna Rada has approved a scandalous document.
Russia initially did not intend to sign the Istanbul Convention. The parliaments of Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland and seven other countries have refused to ratify the convention.