PodcastThousands of women rally to say they won't abandon Istanbul Convention
Thousands of women from across Turkey flocked to Istanbul on June 19 to say they won't abandon the Istanbul Convention at a mass rally. President Erdoğan withdrew Turkey from the international treaty in March, prompting outrage not just domestically but also internationally.
Duvar English - Thousands of women from at least 71 provinces across Turkey flocked to Istanbul on June 19 for a mass rally to say that they continue to defy the president's withdrawal of the country from the Istanbul Convention.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan withdrew Turkey from the document via a presidential decree in March on the grounds that the treaty violated Turkish values by protecting queer persons from domestic violence alongside women and children.
Women held signs that read "You will never walk alone" and "We will stop femicides" at the rally, and shouted, "Get out of our way, not from Istanbul Convention!"
Some women held signs displaying the photo and name of Deniz Poyraz, the woman slain in an attack on a local office of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Aegean İzmir on June 17.