Istanbul Agreement Statement by CHP's Nazlıaka

Aylin Nazlıaka, Chairman of the Women's Branch of the Republican People's Party, held a simultaneous press conference with the heads of the women's branch of 8 provinces and 81 districts on the 973th anniversary of the entry into force of the Istanbul Convention.

Explaining the struggle for rights related to the Istanbul Convention that will go down in the history of the Republic, Nazlıaka said, “As the determined defenders of our Republic and the soldiers of the struggle for equality, we call out to those who are eager to prune our rights one by one: Know Your Places!” said.

CHP Women's Branch Chairperson Aylin Nazlıaka's statements are as follows:

The Istanbul Convention, whose full name is “Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence”, was opened for signature on 11 May 2011 in Istanbul. As known; The Istanbul Convention, of which Turkey is the first signatory, entered into force on 1 August 2014. While we should celebrate the 8th anniversary of the convention today, we are fighting legally and politically for its re-enforcement.

Let's all remember this struggle for rights that will go down in the history of the Republic:

With the midnight decree connecting March 19 to March 20, Erdoğan unlawfully terminated the Istanbul Convention, which is the lifeline of women. The guarantee of the equality and right to life of millions of women has been usurped.

On March 20, 2021, the day this decision was published, our Chairman, Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, called the Central Executive Board and the Party Assembly to an extraordinary meeting. At the meeting, it was decided that this decision was null and void. We immediately made a press statement at the Headquarters together with the female executives of our party. In our statement, “The Istanbul Convention, which was unanimously accepted in the Parliament, cannot be terminated by ignoring the will of the nation. We said that the parliament was ignored, our Constitution was trampled underfoot.

Then, as the Women's Branch of the Republican People's Party, together with women's organizations, we went to the fields all over the country and made press statements. “Women are greater than 1,” we exclaimed.

On March 29, under the leadership of our Chairman, Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, we made a press statement at the Headquarters with our MYK and PM members, our deputies, the Women's Branch VQA Members and the Provincial Head of the Women's Branch from 81 provinces. As the Republican People's Party, we have announced to the public that we have applied to the Council of State. We wanted to prove that the Republic of Turkey is a state of law with this lawsuit, which we filed with a request to stop the annulment decision of the Istanbul Convention. In addition to our party, more than 200 non-governmental organizations filed an action for annulment.

We have repeatedly stated that we do not give up on the Istanbul Convention in the rostrum of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, in our weekly group meetings and in the relevant commissions. We carried out studies that embraced the Istanbul Convention within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

While waiting for a response from the Council of State, another midnight decision was published in the Official Gazette on April 30, 2021. In the resolution signed by my own government, it was announced that the termination date of the Istanbul Convention was 1 July. It was clear that this decision was an instruction to the judiciary.

We rebelled against all the unlawfulness and we held the Istanbul Maltepe Meeting with thousands of women on June 19, 2021, saying “We do not give up on the Istanbul Convention”.

On June 28, 2021, the Presidency made a defense and it was reported that "the judicial remedy is closed against the acts of the state's best interests". What higher interest can be more valuable than women's right to life? How can the President ignore the Constitution? By what right can the executive power put itself in the place of the legislature?

Accepting the defense from the Presidency as an "order", the Council of State rejected our request for a "stay of execution" on 29 June 2021. Thereupon, we applied to the Council of State for the annulment of the annulment decision and made calls to put an end to this unlawfulness as soon as possible. Finally, on 10 April 28, the 2022th Chamber of the Council of State started to discuss the cancellation cases on the merits.

As you well know, we filled the courtroom with more than 73 lawyers from 1000 bar associations, women's associations, representatives of political parties, non-governmental organizations and women from all over Turkey. We stated that withdrawing from the contract would mean abandoning the principle of equality in the Constitution and playing with women's lives. With our organized power, we participated in the cases of the Council of State on 7, 14 and 23 June and said, “Return from this wrong!” We repeated our call.

In all hearings, the Prosecutors of the Council of State demanded that the annulment be cancelled.

However, the 10th Chamber of the Council of State rejected the request for annulment of the Presidential decision regarding the annulment of the Istanbul Convention on 19 July 2022 by 2 votes to 3 votes. With this decision, the Council of State said, "Long live my Sultan!" he said, and took a stance in favor of the law of superiors, not the rule of law. The legal arguments stated by the prosecutors of the Council of State in the reasoned decision were ignored. Lütfiye Akbulut, who was appointed to the Council of State while she was the 1st Legal Counsel of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality during the AKP period, gave the right to this appointment and voted for annulment.

Contrary to the statements in the decision taken by the order of the Palace, “Turkish laws are not enough to protect women”!

As underlined by the members who voted against, the provisions of Article 7 of the Constitution that the legislative power belongs to the Assembly and it is not possible to transfer it is very clear. In short, this decision is unconstitutional!

We remind those who ignore the fact that the Republic of Turkey is a state of law: No one is above the Constitution. No one is superior to the Turkish Grand National Assembly!

We women will never allow our right to life to be taken from us by your dark anti-equality mentality. We will continue to take a stand for the rule of law, in spite of those who defend the unlawful practices of one man.

Our roadmap is clear: first of all, we will appeal to the General Assembly of the Administrative Case Divisions of the Council of State. If the Istanbul Convention does not enter into force through domestic remedies, we will apply to the Constitutional Court.

Against one man, “Man is One! We Are Many!” We will never give up on our motto.

We women will continue to write an epic of resistance!

No one should despair. It's almost time… When we come to power, we will put the Istanbul Convention into effect within the first 24 hours. We will show how to stop violence against women and children and femicide by applying all its provisions. By realizing our egalitarian perspective, we will not allow the murderous murder of our sisters and the rewarding of women murderers with impunity.

We never give up on our rights acquired from the Istanbul Convention, the Law No. 6284 on the Protection of the Family and the Prevention of Violence Against Women. These rights are our lifeline. We call out to those who are eager to prune our rights one by one, as the determined defenders of our Republic and the soldiers of the struggle for equality: Know your place! Coming coming!