Turkey’s decision of ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, was “wrong,” ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy chair Numan Kurtulmuş said on July 2. “I am saying as a person, who has read the Istanbul Convention repeatedly, has also read this in English and worked on it.
The signing of the Istanbul Convention was really wrong,” he said in a televised interview. He indicated that the government might consider withdrawing from the convention, when asked if Turkey may withdraw from the convention. “When our people has such an expectation, we cannot stay indifferent to this.