On that Saturday of last month, when women were carrying slogans against the government on the streets of Istanbul carrying banners and posters, people felt that these are radical feminists, who are seen as equal in everything and who have a special agenda. .
Screen grab of a New York Times video shared on Twitter writer Elif Shafak’s Twitter handle
It was the first human right treaty in the world to prevent and end violence against women 10 years ago – The Council of Europe Convention on Prevention and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, abbreviated as Known as the Istanbul Convention. The treaty was formally announced in the Turkish capital of Istanbul on May 11, 2011, and Turkey was the first name to be signed at the same time. A total of 45 countries signed the treaty, which meant that they are not only committed to stop violence in their country with women, but are also obliged in a way.
After 11 years of that treaty, Turkey is the first country to decide to withdraw from that treaty. This shocking news came from Turkey on the twenty-last month, when Turkish President Rajab Tayyab Erdoआनan announced that his country was now seceding from this treaty because this treaty is against our traditional values.
The violence that was mentioned in detail in this treaty with women includes domestic violence, intimate partner violence as well as rape, marital rape and female genital mutilation. Significantly, in the Kurdish-dominated areas of South Turkey, the female genital mutilation, the brutal tradition of circumcising a woman, still exists.
Soon after this announcement on Saturday, hundreds of women came out on the streets of Istanbul. She had a banner-poster in her hand and she was shouting slogans against Rajab Tyab Erdoan. She was saying that in ten years, the government could not completely stop the violence with women. Now being separated from this treaty means that our life and hell is going to happen in this country. Turkish writer Elif Shafak expressed his concern by tweeting the same day and termed it a dangerous step for the women of Turkey and their country.
And all this was happening when Turkish figures, including the whole world, were shouting that the domestic violence with women has increased by 40 to 70 per cent during the Padminic. The lockdown was announced on 11 March in Turkey alone and 12 women were killed in just 19 days. All these assassinations were done by the intimate partner.
In this treaty with the European Union, it was clearly written that the rights of women and men are equal in society. The treaty obliged governments and government officials to take effective action in case of any violence against women. They will enact such draconian laws to prevent violence and punish those who commit violence, even if they are very close to the husband and family.
Turkish Justice Minister A. Gul announced at the time of announcing his separation from the treaty that we are capable of protecting our women from violence, but are also fully committed to keeping the family structure of our country intact.
Many ministers in Erdoआनan’s cabinet were constantly talking about rethinking the treaty. The conservatives said that because of this treaty, the traditional family structure of Turkey is breaking, home fights are reaching the court, divorce cases are increasing and women are becoming uncontrollable. Basic Minister Erdoआनan was saying that women should be beaten up by their husbands inside the house, but save their great family institution. Do not go to court against husband and do not ask for divorce.
It is not necessary to quote separately the data of UN Women that 78 percent of violence against women is taking place within that family structure, with Erdo औरan and his ministers desperate to save. Whether it is Turkey, India or America, the most powerful country in the world.
Not even a month had passed before Turkey came out of that treaty, that it once again proved that it was not just about separating from the treaty. Such is his view of women.
What happened inside the Turkish Presidential Palace in the Turkish capital of Istanbul on 7 April was not an error in protocol. He was a figurehead of that thinking and mindset, represented by the Conservative Party of Turkey and President Rajab Tayyab Erdoआनan. And why only Turkey, every country and every political party in the world, in whose eyes, religion is above democracy.
So it happened that Ursula von the Leyen, President of the European Union Commission and Charles Michel, Head of the European Council, were in Istanbul for a high-profile meeting. This meeting was to be held on 7 April at the Turkish Presidential Palace. But when the two arrived at the meeting, only Charles Michel was given a chair to sit on and Ursula von de Leyne was not given. She stood there for a while, then sat on a couch in that giant room far away from both those chairs.
Elif Shafak, while sharing a video of that meeting with his Twitter account, just wrote – “Deeply Wired”. (I am very worried.)
Media from all over the world was present in the Presidential Palace at that time. The next day, a picture was printed on the front page of all the newspapers in Europe and the rest of the world, in which two chairs are placed in front. Turkish President Rajab Tayyab Erdo तैयan is seated on the right chair and Charles Michel, head of the European Council, on the left chair. Behind Erdoआनan is the Turkish flag and behind Charles Michel is the European Union. And Ursula von de Leyne stands alone at some distance from both of them.
Both Ursula and Michelle have equal status in the astonishment of the post of European Union. Therefore, what happened in the Presidential Palace on Wednesday was not just a matter of unjustified omissions in the protocol.
This was not the first time that a European Commission and a President of the European Parliament was meeting an official meeting with the President of Turkey. Former Prime Minister of Luxembourg and President of the European Commission till 2019, Claude Junker also arrived in Istanbul two years ago to meet Erdoआनan with President of the European Parliament, Donald Tusk. You take that old picture and try it. Three chairs are kept on an equal footing. There is Erdoआनan in the middle and the junker and tusk on both sides are sitting on par. There was no omission of protocol here. Both men were given equal space. His position and seniority were taken care of.
So this was not the first time the official meeting, but it was definitely the first time that the President of European Parliament was a woman. She is the first woman to reach this position.
All the organizations of the world, and even the Feminist organizations of Turkey, who are raising their voice for women’s rights and gender equality, are watching these two events together – Turkey’s separation from the treaty and then the equal chair for a woman Do not give As soon as this news flashed, the ‘GiveHerSeat’ hashtag trended in social media.
Some people also criticized Charles Mitchell that he should have given his seat to Ursula von de Leyne. It would also have been a befitting reply to the Turkish President’s masculine thinking. However, Charles Mitchell tried to present his explanation on his official Facebook account as well. He wrote in German, “It is not right for me to think that I did not take enough sensitization at that time. At that time I did not want to increase the talk and create any kind of unnecessary drama. “
However, this cleanliness is not enough. In the European Parliament, Denmark’s lawmaker Sophie the Weld shared a picture of the Turkish President with Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Junker, saying, “It was no coincidence.” This was a deliberate act. Why are the Presidents of the European Council silent? “
Women are angry with this, both inside and outside Turkey, but there are many arrows in the quiver of men. He is saying in his clarification that Turkey wanted to express its displeasure by doing so. Turkey is angry with the European Union (EU). Over 60 years, we are not given the membership of the EU. We are just waiting for this.
Turkey’s resentment may be legitimate, but it is interesting that Turkey also waited 60 years to express this resentment. When a woman is president, we will not let her sit on the same chair. However, the question of doing this with men does not arise because Europe and Turkey, whether there is political differences in the countries of the whole world, there is a wonderful unity among all in keeping the power of men intact.
EdoArno is being abused everywhere, but so far no official statement has come in this regard. Aleve Adgul, who is studying medicine from Istanbul University, says, “No statement will come.” This is not a mistake. It has been done intentionally, consciously. What will he clarify on this? It is not uncommon that most girls, who are getting higher education and wishing to live their lives on their own terms, do not want to live in Turkey. Germany, France, Britain want to go anywhere as soon as they get the first opportunity. Where at least they don’t have to be disrespected just because they are women. “
And once again, the data related to the status of women in Turkey should also be repeated once again for this whole story. According to UN Women, 38 percent of women in Turkey are subjected to violence through intimate partners at some point in their lives. In the past 12 months, one in every ten women in Turkey has been the victim of violence in the past 12 months. Just last week, the World Economic Forum released the Global Gender Gap Report of 2021, in which Turkey is 133rd in the list of 156 countries in the world.
On that Saturday of last month, when women were carrying slogans against the government on the streets of Istanbul carrying banners and posters, people felt that these are radical feminists, who are seen as equal in everything and who have a special agenda. .
Within 20 days, Turkey proved itself why those women were protesting.
.