Turkey withdraws from the Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence

On 20th March 2021, #Turkey announced its withdrawal from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, known as the '#istanbulconvention' due to Turkey's leading role in its creation.

The official text of the Presidential Decision No. 3718 states:

‘It is decided that the Council of Europe Treaty on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence signed on 11/5/2011 and ratified on 10/2/2012 with the Council of Ministers Decision No 2012/2816 is to be terminated based on Presidential Decree No 9 paragraph 3.’

The Directorate of Communications of the Presidency of The Republic of Turkey explained the decision in a communique on its official site:

"On 20 March 2021, Türkiye has unilaterally withdrawn from the Istanbul Convention. Article 80 of the Istanbul Convention permits any party to denounce it by notifying the Council of Europe.

As known, Türkiye was the first signatory to the Istanbul Convention by demonstrating a strong committment [sic] to protect women’s status in society and fight any violence against women. It is frequently asked why Türkiye has suddenly decided to pull out of the convention. The Istanbul Convention, originally intended to promote women’s rights, was hijacked by a group of people attempting to normalize homosexuality – which is incompatible with Türkiye’s social and family values. Hence the decision to withdraw.

Türkiye is not the only country who has serious concerns about the Istanbul Convention. Six members of the European Union (Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia) did not ratify the Istanbul Convention. Poland has taken steps to withdraw from the Convention, citing an attempt by the LGBT community to impose their ideas about gender on the entire society.

The decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention by no means denotes that Türkiye “compromises the protection of women.” The Turkish State has continously [sic] stressed that the country will not give up on its fight against domestic violence by quitting the Convention.

In relation to the issue, President Erdo?an strongly emphasizes that Türkiye will continue protecting the safety and the rights of all women. He underlines that fighting domestic violence with the principle of zero tolerance will remain on top of the government’s agenda.

Türkiye’s government has taken concrete steps to uphold and promote women’s rights. Those mechanisms are still in place. Türkiye will implement new reforms in the face of growing violence against women. Following the withdrawal from the Convention, Government bodies will focus on measures that will address the specific needs of the society and strenghten [sic] ongoing efforts to that end.

Those legal mechanisms include the Turkish Constitution as well as our nation’s civil law, penal code and the Law no. 6284 on the Protection of the Family and the Prevention of Violence Against Women (2012).

Türkiye is also party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

It must be noted that Türkiye’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention has zero impact on the implementation of strict, effective and real-world measures, including a landmark legislation that President Erdogan’s government drafted, sponsored and passed.

With no doubt, Türkiye will take additional steps to improve the effectiveness of existing precautions against domestic violence and violence against women – as part of the Human Rights Action Plan that was unveiled earlier this month.

Leaders of the #CouncilofEurope issued a statement signalling their 'regret' at Turkey's decision, while the Secretary-General of the Council considered the move a 'huge setback'.

President #Erdogan's decision has given rise to controversy and debates between #constitutional experts and #lawyers regarding the #constitutionality of the decision, especially since international human rights treaties are to be ratified by parliament, as an act of the legislative organ according to Art. 90 of the Constitution of Turkey 1982 (amended 2017).

Art. 90 appears in the section of the Constitution titled the 'Chapter One: Legislative Power' and makes clear that Parliament has the power to ratify treaties and that any international agreements duly ratified have the full force of law Furthermore, it provides that sich international agreements cannot be challenged for unconstitutionality at the Constitutional Court. It further emphasises that in cases of conflict between international agreements - especially those concerning fundamental rights - and domestic laws, provisions of the international agreement would be binding.

Article 104 appears under 'Chapter Two: The Executive Power' and sets out the powers of the President of Turkey clearly (amended in 2017), allowing the President to promulgate laws, issue presidential decrees and to ratify and promulgate international treaties. Notwithstanding this, Art. 104 stipulates strict conditions for the issuance of presidential decrees and states that they can only relate to the executive power - thereby inferring that they must not interfere with the legislative power. It even goes to the extent of confirming that in case of a discrepancy between presidential decrees and laws, provisions of laws would prevail.

But this otherwise clear framework is then complicated by Article 3 of Presidential Decree No. 9, which is explicitly cited in the withdrawal decision as the enabling provision in this case, and gives the President the right to withdraw from international treaties and agreements unilaterally by issuing a Presidential Decree to that effect:

“ARTICLE 3- (1) Suspension of the implementation of the… provisions of international treaties and their termination shall be done by the decision of the President”.

For more informed perspectives on the withdrawal decision from both public international law and domestic Turkish Law perspectives, see the write-up by Prof. Ba?ac ?ali, at EJIL:Talk, by Ay?egül Kula on Verfassungsblog and a detailed treatment of the applicability and effects of the relevant legal provisions by Constitutional Law Prof. Dr. Kemal G?zler, here (in Turkish only).

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