ANKARA: Turkey's withdrawal on Thursday from an international treaty to prevent violence against women is not a step backwards, President Tayyip Erdogan said, defending a move which has drawn condemnation from many Turks and Western allies.
"Some circles are trying to portray our withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention as a step backwards in our battle with violence against women," he told an action plan meeting in Ankara.
"Our battle did not start with the Istanbul Convention and it will not end with our withdrawal from the treaty," he said of the pact that was first forged and signed in Turkey's largest city in 2011.
Erdogan announced in March the decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention. The move only took effect on Thursday, with thousands set to protest it across Turkey later in the day.
The 2011 pact, signed by 45 countries and the European Union, requires governments to adopt legislation linked to the prosecution of crimes including marital rape and female genital mutilation.
Erdogan's move came as he clings on to support from conservative and nationalist groups to maintain his 18-year rule.
Rights organisations say Erdogan's decision will put women at greater risk of violence when femicide is already prevalent in Turkey.
The president on Thursday insisted Turkey's commitment to end violence against women would not suffer because of his decision.
"As the fight against violence against women did not begin with this treaty, so will our commitment not end because we are withdrawing," he said.
He was speaking at an event at the presidential palace in Ankara for a national action plan to combat violence against women.
But in comments likely to anger Turkish women under a president who often bases their value on whether they are mothers and their relationship to men, Erdogan said "the fight was about protecting the honour of... our mothers and daughters."
Women's rights groups accuse Ankara of withdrawing from the treaty to appease conservatives at a time when Erdogan's ruling Islamic-rooted party is recording lower levels of support.
The withdrawal was condemned by the European Union and the United States.
Turkey's highest administrative court on Tuesday rejected an attempt to annul the withdrawal, saying that Erdogan had the "authority" to make the decision.
Last year, 300 women were murdered in the country, according to the rights group We Will Stop Femicide Platform, while 189 have been killed so far this year.
"The withdrawal sends a reckless and dangerous message to perpetrators who abuse, maim and kill: that they can carry on doing so with impunity," said Amnesty International's secretary general, Agnes Callamard. -- AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
