The Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights expresses its deep disappointment on Turkey’s announced withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention.

In the aftermath of the emblematic judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the Opuz v. Turkey case, the Council of Europe member States decided, in 2011, in Istanbul, to adopt the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. Turkey was the first State ratifying the Convention, in alignment with a decision of its national Parliament. Until today, the Convention has been ratified by 34 Council of Europe member States, including Greece.

The Istanbul Convention is widely perceived as the most important legal initiative in the field of preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, in international legal order, being created on the basis of the principles and values of human rights protection, democracy and the rule of law, also embodying the vision of Council of Europe in eliminating all forms of gender-based violence. The Istanbul Convention is a valuable tool and has led few States to adopt measures contributing to the wider protection of women from all forms of violence.

The adoption of Presidential Decree no 3718 by Mr. Erdogan is undoubtedly a serious retrogression and undermines all efforts for a coordinated protection of women and human rights in general. It is for the first time in the Council of Europe’s course that a member State has initiated the withdrawal process from a Human Rights Convention.

The Marangopoulos Foundation joins its voice with all institutions, at a national and international level, calling on Turkey to reconsider its announced withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention. Our Foundation expresses, above all, its solidarity to all those women in Turkey, protesting against the said initiative that will weaken the protective framework against gender-based violence, while, unfortunately, this phenomenon currently keeps rising. Turkey’s expressed desire to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention will impoverish all efforts of the wider European family in combating for women’s rights and for guaranteeing a life freed from violence for millions of women.

In this context, the Marangopoulos Foundation endorses especially the statements of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and calls the Turkish President to annul his decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention.

Unfortunately, gender-based violence is still present, acquiring worrying dimensions, and we can only tackle this phenomenon when united!

Athens, 22 March 2021