Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Themes
    • European digital sphere
    • Recovery and resilience
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Newsletter

For women in Turkey, the struggle continues

Elifcan Çelebi and Ebru Ece Özbey 1st July 2021

As of today, the Istanbul convention ceases to be effective in Turkey. But that’s not the end of the story.

Turkey,Istanbul convention
Elifcan Çelebi

On March 20th, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, issued a midnight decree, annulling Turkey’s ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. The Istanbul convention, signed by 45 countries and the European Union collectively, has four pillars: prevention, protection, prosecution and integrated policies.

Turkey was not only the enthusiastic host of the negotiations for the convention a decade ago—primarily due to advocacy campaigns and social mobilisations by the women’s movement—but also the first signatory and, indeed, the first country to ratify it in 2012 in the national parliament, supported by aligned legislation, law no. 6284. Being the only country to withdraw from the convention so far would thus be as ironic as it is tragic—endangering the law enacted with reference to it but now confusingly presented as an alternative.

Turkey,Istanbul convention
Ebru Ece Özbey

Populist target

There is evidence that the convention is bringing about positive change, such as funding for refuges for women fleeing intimate-partner violence and national helplines. Its purview extends to the rights of children and to LGBT+ individuals, in the context of gender inequalities and gender-based violence. It has become a target for right-wing populist leaders in recent years, in parallel with attacks on other gender-based rights and the undermining of democracy.

Announcing the decision to withdraw in March, the Turkish presidency tortuously claimed that the convention’s original intention of promoting women’s rights had been ‘hijacked by a group of people attempting to normalize homosexuality’, rendering it ‘incompatible’ with the ‘social and family values’ of the country. The statement referred to six EU member states which had not ratified the convention (Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia) and to Poland, which had taken steps to withdraw, having detected an alleged attempt ‘by the LGBT community to impose their ideas about gender on the entire society’.

Our job is keeping you informed!


Subscribe to our free newsletter and stay up to date with the latest Social Europe content.


We will never send you spam and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Thank you!

Please check your inbox and click on the link in the confirmation email to complete your newsletter subscription.

.

Erdoğan has set his sights on gender-based issues for some time, relentlessly commenting on how women are ‘not suited to perform men’s jobs’ and ‘incomplete if they reject motherhood’, during which they ‘should have at least three children’. The centrality of the family as the supposed foundation of society and the glorification of traditional gender roles and purportedly Islamic values have been the defining features of Erdoğan’s conservative ideology—and that of his Justice and Development Party (AKP)—in social and cultural domains.

Ideology institutionalised

In recent years, this ideology has been institutionalised and fostered through the Ministry of Family and Social Services—which has undergone a remarkable transformation from a women’s to a ‘family’ ministry—as well as by government-organised non-governmental organisations (GONGOs), the Directorate of Religious Affairs and various pro-government media promoting Islamic beliefs. Lobbying by religious groups, with their powerful connections in government, was seemingly influential in the decision to withdraw from the convention.

A women’s GONGO, Kadın ve Demokrasi Derneği (KADEM, the Women and Democracy Association), founded by Erdoğan’s daughter Sümeyye, has even introduced an essentialist, Islamic understanding of ‘gender justice’, as opposed to ‘western’ gender equality. Though part of the anti-gender reaction, its stance towards the convention had differed from those claiming that it undermined the family (by encouraging divorce) and traditional social values. KADEM had supported the convention as a necessary tool to prevent violence against women. After the government’s decision, however, it declared that the convention had ‘turned into a subject of social tension’—showing that even the mildest fringe of the government cannot sustain an autonomous stance on women’s issues.

The growing anti-gender influence on the public agenda has been manifest in social indicators. In the latest World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report, Turkey ranked 133rd out of 156 countries. While the Turkish family and social services minister—the only female member of the current cabinet—has described the increase in violence against women during the pandemic as ‘tolerable’, a recent report by the We Will End Femicide Platform found that there were at least 300 femicides, as well as 171 suspicious female deaths, in 2020 alone.

Firestorm of controversy

The March decision ignited a firestorm of controversy. The women’s and LGBT+ movements organised massive protests in several cities. Human-rights lawyers argued that international agreements could not be terminated simply by presidential fiat. And opposition parties, bar associations and the Women’s Platform for Equality, a coalition composed of more than 300 women’s and LGBT+ organisations, appealed to the Council of State to overrule the decision.


We need your support


Social Europe is an independent publisher and we believe in freely available content. For this model to be sustainable, however, we depend on the solidarity of our readers. Become a Social Europe member for less than 5 Euro per month and help us produce more articles, podcasts and videos. Thank you very much for your support!

Become a Social Europe Member

After a long wait, on Tuesday the Council of State rejected the appeal. Turkey’s highest administrative court asserted that the ‘authority’ to ratify and annul international treaties rested with the president, not parliament—which immediately sparked debate over the capacity of the judiciary to hold executive and legislative authorities to account.

Severe international criticism came from the United States president, Joe Biden, the high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Council of Europe secretary general, Marija Pejčinović Burić. These expressions of concern did not however translate into sanctions or other action against Turkey.

Domestically, meanwhile, opinion polls indicate that the majority of the population do not support the withdrawal decision. In a poll in March  52.3 per cent of respondents disapproved of it. Another poll confirmed public support for the convention while revealing that opinion on women’s issues was becoming more liberal over time.

In a wider context, the gathering recession in the face of the pandemic, rising unemployment and loss of trust in the judiciary and democratic institutions have empowered the opposition forces in Turkey. The local elections in 2019 and the findings of recently polls confirm that the AKP has been losing support.

Women’s and LGBT+ rights have been under constant attack in Turkey. Still, the country has unique social and historical dynamics, whatever the current government’s illiberal tendencies and populist hostility to gender equality. The annulment of the Istanbul convention, effective from today, is an unexpected yet unsurprising result of the AKP’s authoritarian and conservative policies, which have gained momentum in the last decade. The responses from the society and opposition groups have however restored hope for change, Erdoğan’s démarche having unified the women’s and LGBT+ movement in Turkey—which comprise fragmented groups with very different views—behind the same goal.

Turkey,Istanbul convention
Elifcan Çelebi

Elifcan Çelebi is a doctoral researcher at the at the International Max Planck Research School on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy (IMPRS-SPCE) in Cologne.

Turkey,Istanbul convention
Ebru Ece Özbey

Ebru Ece Özbey is a doctoral researcher at the at the International Max Planck Research School on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy (IMPRS-SPCE) in Cologne.

Home ・ Politics ・ For women in Turkey, the struggle continues

Most Popular Posts

schools,Sweden,Swedish,voucher,choice Sweden’s schools: Milton Friedman’s wet dreamLisa Pelling
world order,Russia,China,Europe,United States,US The coming world orderMarc Saxer
south working,remote work ‘South working’: the future of remote workAntonio Aloisi and Luisa Corazza
Russia,Putin,assets,oligarchs Seizing the assets of Russian oligarchsBranko Milanovic
Russians,support,war,Ukraine Why do Russians support the war against Ukraine?Svetlana Erpyleva

Most Recent Posts

Sakharov,nuclear,Khrushchev Unhappy birthday, Andrei SakharovNina L Khrushcheva
Gazprom,Putin,Nordstream,Putin,Schröder How the public loses out when politicians cash inKatharina Pistor
defence,europe,spending Ukraine and Europe’s defence spendingValerio Alfonso Bruno and Adriano Cozzolino
North Atlantic Treaty Organization,NATO,Ukraine The Ukraine war and NATO’s renewed credibilityPaul Rogers
transnational list,European constituency,European elections,European public sphere A European constituency for a European public sphereDomènec Ruiz Devesa

Other Social Europe Publications

The transatlantic relationship
Women and the coronavirus crisis
RE No. 12: Why No Economic Democracy in Sweden?
US election 2020
Corporate taxation in a globalised era

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

EU Care Atlas: a new interactive data map showing how care deficits affect the gender earnings gap in the EU

Browse through the EU Care Atlas, a new interactive data map to help uncover what the statistics are often hiding: how care deficits directly feed into the gender earnings gap.

While attention is often focused on the gender pay gap (13%), the EU Care Atlas brings to light the more worrisome and complex picture of women’s economic inequalities. The pay gap is just one of three main elements that explain the overall earnings gap, which is estimated at 36.7%. The EU Care Atlas illustrates the urgent need to look beyond the pay gap and understand the interplay between the overall earnings gap and care imbalances.


BROWSE THROUGH THE MAP

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

Towards a new Minimum Wage Policy in Germany and Europe: WSI minimum wage report 2022

The past year has seen a much higher political profile for the issue of minimum wages, not only in Germany, which has seen fresh initiatives to tackle low pay, but also in those many other countries in Europe that have embarked on substantial and sustained increases in statutory minimum wages. One key benchmark in determining what should count as an adequate minimum wage is the threshold of 60 per cent of the median wage, a ratio that has also played a role in the European Commission's proposals for an EU-level policy on minimum wages. This year's WSI Minimum Wage Report highlights the feasibility of achieving minimum wages that meet this criterion, given the political will. And with an increase to 12 euro per hour planned for autumn 2022, Germany might now find itself promoted from laggard to minimum-wage trailblazer.


FREE DOWNLOAD

ETUI advertisement

Bilan social / Social policy in the EU: state of play 2021 and perspectives

The new edition of the Bilan social 2021, co-produced by the European Social Observatory (OSE) and the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), reveals that while EU social policy-making took a blow in 2020, 2021 was guided by the re-emerging social aspirations of the European Commission and the launch of several important initiatives. Against the background of Covid-19, climate change and the debate on the future of Europe, the French presidency of the Council of the EU and the von der Leyen commission must now be closely scrutinised by EU citizens and social stakeholders.


AVAILABLE HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Living and working in Europe 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic continued to be a defining force in 2021, and Eurofound continued its work of examining and recording the many and diverse impacts across the EU. Living and working in Europe 2021 provides a snapshot of the changes to employment, work and living conditions in Europe. It also summarises the agency’s findings on issues such as gender equality in employment, wealth inequality and labour shortages. These will have a significant bearing on recovery from the pandemic, resilience in the face of the war in Ukraine and a successful transition to a green and digital future.


AVAILABLE HERE

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Membership

Advertisements

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Social Europe Archives

Search Social Europe

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Follow us on social media

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on YouTube