Turkish Court Urged to Annul Erdogan’s Withdrawal From Istanbul Convention

A protester holds a feminist flag during a demonstration on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, in Istanbul, Turkey, March 6 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

Turkey's top administrative court monitors the legality of decisions made by administrative courts. Its decisions must be respected by the government.

The State Council will announce its decision later with a written explanation.

Due to high demand, the session had to be held in a conference hall instead of a regular courtroom. The Council's session was followed by more than 550 people, including women's NGOs, lawyers, MPs and bar associations.

"This is a first in the history of the State Council. We are having such a crowded trial for the first time," Yilmaz Akcil, President of the State Council, said before the session.

Speaking for the Ankara Bar Association, lawyer Ceren Kalay Eken told the Court that President Erdogan's decision was arbitrary decision and unconstitutional.

"No authority can issue a constitutional authority to his or herself with his or her own decision … We are still a party to the Istanbul Convention," Kalay Eken maintained.

Many women and representatives of women organisations could not enter the conference hall, facing police obstruction.

The Women's Platform for Equality, ESIK, said in a statement that it expected the State Council to annul the President's decision.

If not, the ESIK said: "We will, of course, continue our legal and political struggle. We will take this presidential decision, which is unconstitutional, to the Constitutional Court. If we do not get results in domestic law, we will mobilize international mechanisms, including the European Court of Human Rights, ECHR."

The...