Turkey sees women outrage, as Erdogan quits Istanbul convention

Turkey was the first country to sign the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence in 2011.

However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has withdrawn his country from the international treaty to protect women through a presidential decree issued in the early hours of Saturday.

The move has sent shockwaves through a country that has been reeling from high-profile domestic violence cases and femicides.

It is unclear why Erdogan made the decision to pull out of the convention. The public debate around the convention peaked in August when religious and conservative groups began an intense lobbying effort against the convention.

Turkish women's rights defenders have protested against the withdrawal, while some conservatives argue it harms traditional family values.

Turkey's main opposition called the move an effort to relegate "women to second class citizens," and vowed to return the country back to the convention, saying the current government failed to secure the rights of women and children.

Violence against women in Turkey is a huge human rights crisis that is escalating. The country does not have femicide numbers issued separately but a non-governmental women's right group puts the number of women killed in 2021 at 77.