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Reasons Why The Turkish Government Opposed The Istanbul Convention
- Zeynep Erdem
- 9 Eki 2021
- 8 dakikada okunur
Let's take a look at the reasons behind the abolition of the Istanbul Convention.
A. Introduction
The Istanbul Convention which makes a name for itself recently has protectable and preventive mechanisms against discrimination or violence regarding gender and sexual orientation. This convention, which includes the broadest definitions of violence ever, aims to protect all segments of society equally. The Istanbul Convention which stands out with its approach to the term violence gives women the right to defend all their rights, especially the right to life, and to hold the state responsible for it. Femicides and violence against women which we hear almost every day, cause society to hold the government to account in this context. However, the government has difficulties in responding to the reaction of women due to the policies it implements For this reason, it is wanted to prevent women from coming together and asking the government to account for why the Istanbul Convention has not been implemented.
Government policies advocating a patriarchal order oppose the Istanbul Convention because it disrupts the family structure they call "tradition". However, women who have been fighting for their rights for centuries argue that the contract should not be abolished, claiming that this agreement provides a guarantee for them and argues that the government has not taken the necessary measures to protect their rights.
Like many other women, I think it should be kept upright against the violence against women and femicide which are increasing day by day due to the values defended by the convention and the protective mechanisms it provides. However, the state, which approaches the concepts of family and women with the primitive perspective of the patriarchal order, supports violence by making statements defending that the murdered women sometimes deserve to be killed. State leaders, who frequently use sexist discourses such as "What a woman is looking for on there at the night time?" legitimizes the killing of women with these words. As an example of that Melih Gökçek who was an old AKP deputy said that "What is the fault of a child if her mother was raped? May her mother die!" Also, the President of Turkish Republic R. T. Erdogan said that “Men and women cannot be equal. It's against their nature. Violence against women is exaggerated” (Sevgi Doğan, 2020) Therefore, it is not surprising that a mentality in this process tries to abolish the contract instead of preventing violence and murders by implementing the contract. This article will first talk about the importance of the Istanbul Convention and then explain why the state opposes it.
B. Part 1: The Purpose and Importance of Istanbul Convention.
a) The Istanbul convention observes and protects all rights of women, especially the right to life.
The first three articles, which reveal the definitions, objectives, and scope of the contract, clearly reveal the importance of the contract. Roberta Caragnano (2018) states that the Convention is the first legally binding instrument which is creating a comprehensive legal framework not only to protect women against all forms of violence, but also to prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence.
As can be seen from Caragno's words, the Istanbul Convention aims to protect everyone who is exposed to discrimination or violence regarding gender and sexual orientation. It is unambiguously defined in the first article that necessary measures should be taken to protect women who are in a disadvantaged position in terms of gender equality from all kinds of violence and discrimination. Also adds that these protective measures cannot be interpreted as discrimination. In other words, although the preventive measures policies to be taken to prevent violence against women constitute a positive discrimination, other citizens, especially men, cannot claim that they are being treated unfairly by describing it as discrimination.
The second article of the conventions includes the definitions. Particularly the explanation of “violence” is important. Because it’s the first time that the definition of that word has been made so comprehensive. Any actions which are resulting in psychological, economic, physical, and sexual suffering of an individual have been defined as violence. In addition to this, persistent pursuit also becomes a part of violence by this convention and it is something so important because it is the first time that the concept of violence is interpreted in such a broad way in a convention dealing with violence against women. Since the concept of persistent pursuit was not considered as a crime in previous international conventions, there was no criminal sanction, However, thanks to the Istanbul Convention, the term persistent pursuit was also considered as a crime and now it has a criminal sanction too.
This convention, which is of great importance especially in terms of the duties it imposes on the state, aims to prevent all kinds of violence regarding gender and sexual orientation. In this context, the definition of violence has been made more broadly than ever and the task of providing all the necessary mechanisms to prevent it is assigned to the states.
b) The state should take all kinds of measures to prevent violence against women and even turn this into a state policy.
The Istanbul Convention, which aims not only to prevent violence but also to protect women from violence places very important responsibilities on the state in this sense. As an example of this, Article 16 clearly states that equality should be emphasized at every stage of state institutions from education to security. Regarding this issue, Berthe De Vos (2020) argues that the states have to establish an education system against violence against women, create 24/7 accessible telephone lines, provide free legal and psychological consultancy services and collect data on gender-related crimes to find the best solution against them.
As can be seen in the convention, the state is obliged to both prevent violence and protect the disadvantaged party in case of violence. The effective implementation of these mechanisms stipulated by the convention, especially starting from education, will have an extremely serious result in a positive way against violence against women.
C. Part 2: Reasons Why the Turkish Government Opposed the Istanbul Convention
a) The government argues that the contract harms the Turkish family structure.
The Turkish government claims that there has been a large-scale increase in divorce rates since the contract entered into force in 2012 (Kerim Can Kavaklı, 2020). They associate these divorce rates with the Istanbul Convention, stating that the contract damages the Turkish family structure. According to the government, the convention which is based on the statement of the woman is an essential principle, makes it very easy and quick for women to issue a suspension order. For this reason, men cannot approach their wives or women leave their homes to take shelter in women’s shelter and this hurts the family structure.
According to Mehveş Evin (2020), these discussions about the contract divide the public into two. While some people support the contract, the other part strongly opposes the contract and says it should be removed. This polarisation can be sighted also within the conservative side, such as the own base of AKP. As an example for that Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar, who is the vice chairman of KADEM (Association for Woman and Democracy) and also the daughter of President R. T. Erdogan, explicitly declared its support for the Istanbul Convention. As can be seen from here, those who side with democratic progress within the AKP oppose the resile from the Convention. Others, such as religious associations and congregations, are pressuring the government to withdraw from the Convention by arguing that the convention by arguing that the convention cause high divorce rates. On the other hand, if we consider this polarization within the AKP, the majority of the people do not consider women's escape from violence and divorce as a problem.
Explaining why the convention disturbs the government so much and criticizes the government's speeches that set the stage for violence against women, Sevgi Doğan (2020) says: “What may be true is that the implementation of the Convention, by allowing women to protect their rights, has made violence visible.” Just as Sevgi Doğan has said, as violence has become much more visible, the public's reaction has increased with this. For this reason, the government wants to abolish this contract, which makes violence visible by considering the reaction of women.
When analyzing concrete evidence, only numerical data are relied upon, and that's why the government talks about divorce rates. Conversely, divorces can lead to much more positive results in some cases. It can be a way out for women who are subjected to violence.For this reason, the state should avoid making a defense based on numerical data.It should analyze the reasons for divorce and put forward violent divorces among these reasons and effectively operate the mechanisms preventing violence to solve this problem. In short, the state should not expect women to maintain a marriage in which they have been subjected to violence and shouldn't defend divorces as a negative argument, claiming that the divorce rates have increased.
b) Government advocates that the convention lays the legal ground for homosexuality.
The government argues that the convention has changed notions of gender and destroyed moral values in society. Although there is no statement about LGBTI individuals in the contract, on what grounds does the government say these?As mentioned at the beginning, the convention is based on preventing all kinds of discrimination and violence regarding gender and sexual orientation and imposes various responsibilities on the state for this purpose. The government, which frequently voices discriminatory discourses against both women and LGBTI individuals, of course, for this reason, refuses to take measures against LGBTI individuals on the grounds of "immorality". Emphasizing a genderless society, the government says such an outcome would normalize "marginal" groups such as homosexuality (Sevgi Doğan. 2020, September 22).
However, the majority of the people argue that the convention aims only to create an egalitarian society as it should be in the new world order. Society argues that gender rules that contain cultural repercussions and exert enormous pressure on both women and men should be lifted. They state that pressures such as "the place of women is home, men do not cry" devalue individuals and that people should be valued only as an individual.
D. Conclusion
The Istanbul Convention, which deals with violence against women as a whole from the very beginning, is the most important legal basis for preventing violence and protecting women. Based on this convention, women expect the state to fulfill some of their responsibilities. The contract imposes many duties and duties on the state due to its structure. It considers violence a violation of human rights and states that the state should determine and implement a policy against violence.
However, the Turkish government, which does not fulfill its responsibilities, cannot tolerate being on trial by its people. For this reason, the government declares that they want the contract to be abolished by citing two excuses. Arguing that the convention harms the family structure and increases divorce rates, the government also states that it normalizes LGBTI individuals. However, the people, who take a firm stance against all these, are strongly against the idea of abolishing the contract. They invite the state to behave in an egalitarian manner with an understanding as required by the rule of law and argues that the positive results obtained by looking at the reasons for divorce rather than divorce rates should be evaluated. In this context, they put forward the Istanbul Convention, which is their biggest foundation. Recognizing this situation, the government does not want to be in a worse situation in the eyes of the public and aims to take this power from them and leave them vulnerable. The convention, which aims to protect women and put an end to violence against women, has only meant to be abolished for the sake of statesmen. The increasing statistics of violence make statesmen look bad and make them a target to hold an account. Rightly people react to this situation and have forced to fight even for the rights they have earned.
References:
De Vos, Berthe. (2020, September 11). The intent and importance of the Istanbul convention.
Kavakli, Kerim Can. (2020). Women’s murders and the interaction between gender (In)equality and economic development: A Subnational analysis in Turkey. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 088626052096716. doi:10.1177/0886260520967164
Evin, Mehveş. (2020, July 23). Why is Turkey debating the Istanbul Convention now? Duvar [İstanbul].
Caragnano, Roberta. (2018). Violence against women and domestic violence: General framework and overview of the convention (Articles 1 and 2). Athens Journal of Law, 4(1), 51-66. doi:10.30958/ajl.4-1-3
Doğan, Sevgi. (2020, September 22). New political debate in Turkey: Istanbul Convention. Security Praxis.
Prime Ministry General Directorate of Legislation Development and Publication. (2012, March 20). Retrieved from
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