Hundreds of women across Turkey on Saturday took to the streets for the second weekend in a row to protest against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to withdraw from the world’s first binding treaty to combat violence against women.
Erdogan last weekend sparked anger with his withdrawal from the 2011 Istanbul Convention that conservatives claim is hurting family unity in Turkey.
‘FAMILY VALUES’
Photo: AFP
Justifying the decision to withdraw, the presidency last week claimed that the treaty had been “hijacked by a group of people attempting to normalize homosexuality,” which it said was “incompatible” with Turkey’s “social and family values.”
There was a flood of reaction from the West and international organizations, including the UN, which called on Turkey to reconsider its decision.
Hundreds of women on Saturday called on Erdogan to reverse the move in the Kadikoy District on the Asian side of Istanbul, an Agence France-Presse correspondent said.
There were also rainbow flags in the crowd and one placard that read: “LGBTI+ rights are human rights.”
In Ankara, a smaller group of women protested in the heart of the city center, surrounded by riot police.
There were chants of “We’re not scared, we won’t be silent, we won’t obey,” in Istanbul and the capital.
There was fresh anger in Turkey on Saturday after a 17-year-old pregnant girl was stabbed to death in the Aegean province of Izmir, state news agency Anadolu reported.
The suspect was reported to be the man she was living with, and her unborn child was also killed in the attack.
Violence against women and femicide is a serious problem in Turkey, with daily media coverage of the issue.
Last year, 300 women were murdered and the rate shows no sign of slowing, with 87 women killed so far this year, the women’s rights group We Will Stop Femicide Platform has said.
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