Women protest as Turkey withdraws from violence-on-women treaty
Erdogan announced the withdrawal in March, saying Turkey would use local laws to protect women's rights and defended his move on July 1 against those who, he said, portrayed it as "a step backwards" in the battle with violence against women.
Reuters
July 02, 2021 / 16:12 IST
1/8
Thousands of people took to the streets of Turkey's largest cities to protest against the country's withdrawal from an international treaty to combat violence against women, a move that has drawn strong criticism from Western allies. (Image: Reuters)
2/8
The protests came hours after President Tayyip Erdogan defended the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, negotiated in Turkey's biggest city in 2011 and designed to prevent and prosecute violence against women and domestic abuse. (Image: Reuters)
3/8
Amid a heavy police presence, more than 1,000 people, mostly women, demonstrated in central Istanbul, and there were smaller protests in the Aegean city of Izmir and elsewhere across the country. (Image: Reuters)
4/8
Erdogan announced the withdrawal in March, saying Turkey would use local laws to protect women's rights and defended his move on July 1 against those who, he said, portrayed it as "a step backwards" in the battle with violence against women. (Image: Reuters)
Ankara's withdrawal triggered condemnation from both the United States and the European Union, and critics say it puts Turkey even further out of step with the bloc that it applied to join in 1987. (Image: Reuters)
6/8
A court appeal to halt the withdrawal was rejected this week. (Image: Reuters)
7/8
Many conservatives in Turkey and Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party say the pact undermines the family. Some also see the Convention as promoting homosexuality through its principle of non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. (Image: Reuters)
8/8
Ditching the pact "will not lead to any legal or practical shortcoming in the prevention of violence against women," Erdogan's office said on June 29 to the administrative court that rejected the appeal. (Image: Reuters)
![Erdogan announced the withdrawal in March, saying Turkey would use local laws to protect women's rights and defended his move on July 1 against those who, he said, portrayed it as "a step backwards" in the battle with violence against women. (Image: Reuters)](https://images.moneycontrol.com/static-mcnews/2021/07/6-turkey-protest-women-treaty.jpg "Erdogan announced the withdrawal in March, saying Turkey would use local laws to protect women's rights and defended his move on July 1 against those who, he said, portrayed it as "a step backwards" in the battle with violence against women. (Image: Reuters)")
![Ditching the pact "will not lead to any legal or practical shortcoming in the prevention of violence against women," Erdogan's office said on June 29 to the administrative court that rejected the appeal. (Image: Reuters)](https://images.moneycontrol.com/static-mcnews/2021/07/2-turkey-protest-women-treaty.jpg "Ditching the pact "will not lead to any legal or practical shortcoming in the prevention of violence against women," Erdogan's office said on June 29 to the administrative court that rejected the appeal. (Image: Reuters)")
