‘İstanbul Convention will remain in force until July 1’

"Withdraw the decision, implement the convention" (by Fatma Erdoğan)

Click to read the article in Turkish

Jörg Polakiewicz, a professor of human rights law from the Council of Europe, has commented on Turkey's withdrawal from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence - or the İstanbul Convention.

He has underlined that the convention will be in effect in Turkey until July 1. Polakiewicz has said on Twitter, "Turkey notified denunciation of the İstanbul Convention on 22 March, it will be effective as of 1 July."

#Turkey notified denunciation of #coe #Istanbul convention #VAW on 22 March, will be effective as from 1 July https://t.co/KO3lKuo4f3

— Jörg Polakiewicz (@jowicz) March 23, 2021

Lawyer Benan Molu refers to Article 80

Lawyer Benan Molu from Turkey has mentioned the above tweet and drawn attention to the Article 80 of the İstanbul Convention.

"Turkey notified the General Secretary of the Council of Europe about its denunciation of the İstanbul Convention on March 22. According to the Article 80 of the İstanbul Convention regarding denunciation, it will be in effect until July 1, 2021," lawyer Molu has said on Twitter.

What does Article 80 say?

The related article of the İstanbul Convention reads:

"Any Party may, at any time, denounce this Convention by means of a notification addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

"Such denunciation shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary General."

What happened?

Turkey has withdrawn from the İstanbul Convention with a Presidential decision published in the Official Gazette on March 20, 2021.

The decision in question said that "the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, which was signed by Turkey on May 11, 2011 and approved with the Cabinet Decree no. 2012/2816 on February 10, 2012, shall be terminated on the part of Turkey as per the Article 3 of the Presidential Decree no. 9."

Following this Presidential decision published at midnight, several social media users, women's rights defenders, lawyers and politicians, denounced the decision, recalling that the convention was unanimously approved at the Parliament and stressing that it is not possible for Turkey to withdraw from an international convention with a Presidential decision. (EKN/SD)