Uniting women against withdrawing from Istanbul Convention 'may be one of Erdoğan's worst mistakes'

Duvar English

The feminist movement in Turkey came out victorious in the debate over the Istanbul Convention, the international women's rights treaty, private survey company Metropoll Director Prof. Özer Sencar said.

Sencar said that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan must be "very regretful" about supporting suggestions from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) that Turkey should withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, officially "The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence."

Debate about the withdrawal coincided with the brutal murder of 27-year-old Pınar Gültekin by her ex-boyfriend. The killing fueled nationwide protests that urged the government to not withdraw from the Istanbul Convention.

There were also calls on social media, where women shared photographs of themselves with hashtags defending the convention, even drawing attention from celebrities worldwide.

"If I know Erdoğan, he thinks that they made a mistake in uniting women in an opposition block. Women definitely succeeded, they won a major victory. They've come to know the taste of being an opposition," Sencar said.

Sencar noted that President Erdoğan is often motivated by votes and incentivizing voters, which is probably why he said that Ankara would "withdraw if it's so desired," presumably by opinion leaders in more conservative circles.

"I believe that Erdoğan failed to speak to women within his party or among the electorate," Sencar added.

The MetroPOLL director also said that uniting women in opposition may have been one of the worst moves in President Erdoğan's career.

"We're talking about women from both his camp and the opposition. They created a space and a horizon for the feminist movement," Sencar said.

"There are thousands of women on the streets, some with headscarves. The government really messed up with this one."