MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Amed – On March 20, 2021, Turkey’s President Erdoğan announced the country’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention by a presidential decree. Turkey’s withdrawal from the convention entered into force on July 1, 2021 despite national and international reactions to the decision. Since the announcement of the withdrawal from the convention, 361 women were killed, 286 more died under suspicious circumstances in Turkey.

“Women are killed across the country”

Stressing that women are subjected to all forms of violence in Turkey, Lawyer Hatice Demir, a board member of the Diyarbakır Bar Association, said that women’s organizations and bar associations work hard to eliminate violence against women. Underlining that the femicide cases across the country show that this issue is a political issue, Hatice Demir said, “Whenever we work on the ground, we always draw attention to the fact that speaking out after the murders of women is not important. The government must fulfill its responsibilities in order to prevent femicide and to establish the necessary mechanisms against femicide.”

“The government attacks whenever it gets in trouble”

Noting that they voice their demand that Turkey should take necessary measures in accordance with its existing laws, Hatice Demir said, “We know that the Istanbul Convention provides a fundamental perspective for combating all forms of violence against women and determines the roadmap for combating violence. We always state that it imposes certain responsibilities on the parties and it is an important convention to combat gender-based violence. However, the current government attacks fundamental rights and freedom whenever it gets in trouble. We can say that there is a serious social pressure particularly against women, Kurdish women and individuals belonging to other religions.”

“Women do not feel safe”

Underlining that Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul Convention with an overnight decree, Hatice Demir said, “The femicide cases have been increasing in Turkey since Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul Convention. And women do not feel safe in the country anymore. The government is responsible for taking measures to make women feel safe in the country again. The only way to make women feel safe again is that Turkey must declare again that it is a party to the convention and implement the convention. In this way, we can fight the policy of impunity.”