Turkey and the Istanbul Convention: An Evaluation of How Human Rights and Criminal Law Interact

When the Istanbul Convention was opened for signature in 2011, Turkey was its first signatory. Ten years later, in a controversial move, Turkey withdrew from the Convention. This paper aims to analyse and contextualise this development by reference to debates on violence against women within Turkey, with a particular focus on the role of criminal law and the way it interacts with various cultural narratives on gender and national identity. It sets the international legal frame of reference by introducing various human rights documents on women's rights and violence against women, with a focus on the Istanbul Convention and its monitoring mechanism, the Group of Experts on Action against Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO). It then provides some information on the domestic law and legal culture of Turkey and analyses specific areas of criminal law in relation to the prevention of violence against women, building on GREVIO's first report on Turkey. Against this backdrop, it becomes possible to evaluate Turkey's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, juxtaposing national justifications and international reactions in light of broader democratic shortcomings and cultural narratives on violence against women in Turkey.