Turkey signed up to the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention, which aims to protect women from violence. Conservative forces in the country, however, are calling for Turkey's immediate withdrawal, claiming the traditional family is in danger. By Pelin Unker and Daniel Derya Bellut
A statement with explosive force: for days, a possible withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention has dominated the public arena in Turkey. On social media, opponents and supporters are fighting for sovereignty of interpretation. Polemic is booming on Twitter. In one particularly popular cartoon, for instance, the Istanbul Convention is equated with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. This time, however, the conqueror is portrayed as Uncle Sam, and the convention as an attempt by the West to infiltrate Turkey.
The family as an unshakeable construct
Canan Arin, founder of an association for the protection of women, cannot understand why the Istanbul Convention should endanger the integrity of the family. What does that mean, the family is sacred? Is the family an unshakeable construct where the woman is squashed like a mop every day, used as a birthing machine (.) and as a means of sexual gratification? Arin points out that the agreement is only there to protect women from vio