On April 28 Turkey’s highest administrative court, Council of State discussed over 200 applications filed by women organizations and bar associations against a presidential decree that last year pulled the country from the Istanbul Convention.
In their final opinion, the Council of State prosecutor deemed the relevant decree “unlawful,” demanding its cancellation. The top administrative court is expected to give its ruling in one month.
Turkey’s top administrative court heard 10 cases filed against the country’s exit from the İstanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty on combating violence against women.
Submitting its opinion, the prosecutor’s office stated that withdrawing from the convention by a presidential decision was unlawful as it was ratified by the parliament. The parliament had not annulled the law regarding the ratification of the convention and had not passed a new law regarding the termination of the convention, thus, the president’s action was not lawful as per the principle of parallelism of authority and proceedings, the prosecutor’s office concluded.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a decree on March 21, 2021 for the country’s withdrawal from the convention. In return, women’s groups have protested the decision and taken legal action against it. Women organizations, politicians and bar associations filed over 200 applications amounting to 10 cases at the Council of State, demanding that the relevant presidential decree be canceled.
Women’s solidarity at the hearing
A hearing of the case took place on April 28, which saw the attendance of several lawyers representing many of the bar associations throughout Turkey.
Also, representatives of several women organizations gathered in front of the Council of State in the morning hours, releasing a press statement. The Women’s Platform for Equality (EŞİK) said that the trial will show “whether it is the law of those who see themselves above judiciary or whether it is the superiority of law that will persist” in the end.
The head of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) Erinç Sağkan made a defense on behalf of Ankara Bar Association, saying that the relevant presidential decree is “unlawful.” He said that Turkey had ratified the convention in parliament, which is why “it is a Constitutional obligation that the withdrawal also takes place with the will of parliament.”
Lawyer Seher Duygu Çildoğan from Ankara Bar Association said that since Turkey pulled out of the convention, the country’s LGBTI+ community has faced more attacks. “By saying ‘A fraction of society used the convention as a means to normalize homosexuality,’ the state showed LGBTI+ individuals as targets,” she said.
After many more people submitted their defenses, the Council of State prosecutor said in their final opinion that the relevant presidential decree is “unlawful” and demanded that it be canceled.
Femicide and violence against women generally remain major problems in Turkey. In the first four months of 2022 alone, at least 113 women were killed by men in Turkey. A total of 419 women were recorded as killed by men in 2021, and 413 in 2020.