ISTANBUL, 21 March 2021, (TON): Turkey withdrew early Saturday from a landmark European treaty protecting women from violence that it was the first country to sign 10 years ago.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 20^th March announcement annulling Turkey’s ratification of the Istanbul Convention is seen by many Westerners as a blow to women’s rights. Advocates of women rights says, the agreement is crucial to combating domestic violence. Hundreds of women gathered in Istanbul to protests against the move on Saturday and are assembling on the streets today.

The Council of Europe’s Secretary General, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, called the decision “devastating.” She said, “This move is a huge setback to these efforts and all the more deplorable because it compromises the protection of women in Turkey, across Europe and beyond.”

The Istanbul Convention states that men and women have equal rights and obliges state authorities to take steps to prevent gender-based violence against women, protect victims and prosecute perpetrators.

Some officials from Turkey and other Islamic nations had advocated for a review of the agreement, arguing it is inconsistent with Turkey’s Islamic values by encouraging divorce and undermining the traditional family unit. The treaty also promotes homosexuality through the use of categories like gender, sexual orientation and gender identity. 

They see that as a threat to Turkish families. Hate speech has been on the rise in Turkey, including the interior minister who described LGBT people as “perverts” in a tweet. Erdogan has rejected their existence altogether. 

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairperson Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu released a video Twitter, saying that the rights of 42 million Turkish women cannot be stripped from them through a decree released at midnight. Gökçe Gökçen, deputy chairwoman of the CHP earlier wrote on Twitter that the withdrawal by a decree is "illegal and ignores the will of the parliament."