Turkey’s withdrawal from women violence treaty goes to court

Pullout sparked criticism among the opposition, rights groups, and even ruling party supporters.

Istanbul, Turkey – With a presidential decree published in the Official Gazette on March 20, Turkey’s pullout from the Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence was sudden, but not unexpected. Turkey’s opposition parties appealed to the State Council, the highest administrative court, requesting the cancellation of the withdrawal. The convention was signed in September 2011 in Istanbul and named after the city. Turkey was the first state to ratify it with a unanimous vote at the parliament the next year, followed by 11 European countries. It came into effect August 2014.