Statement from Selma Gürkan about Istanbul Convention 2021-05-10 14:27:57   NEWS CENTER - Making a statement on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Istanbul Convention for signature, EMEP Chairperson Selma Gürkan said: "We remind you that Istanbul Convention was not earned by those who ignore it with a single word due to their periodic politics. It was earned with an equal life struggle of women in streets, factories, workplaces, campuses, and all places."   Labour Party (EMEP) Chairperson Selma Gürkan published a written statement on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Istanbul Convention for signature with the title "We don’t give up from the Istanbul Convention, continue to struggle for equality".   In the statement, which was reminded that 10 years have passed since the opening of the convention for signature, it was stated that Turkey gave its name to the convention at that time, and the pioneering role of Turkey in the preparation and opening process of the convention was frequently propagated by the Prime Minister of the time, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and praised the convention.   ‘The tally of femicides in the last 20 years reveals the policies of the government’   The statement pointed out that violence has increased with the civil wars in the countries of the region in the last decade, the rise of conservative policies in the country, the increasing conflicts in the Kurdish provinces and the economic crisis and said: "The public has been made unable to breathe. It should be stated that, accordingly, femicides and sexual crimes against women and children have always taken their place at the top of the agenda of the country. As of today, it was decided by Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the president to withdraw from the contract at midnight, saying ‘We enter, we withdraw as entered’.   The tally of femicides in the last 20 years, attempts to forgive child abusers, attacks on the right to alimony and almost all civil rights of women reveal the government's women's policy. For this reason, we remind you that Istanbul Convention was not earned by those who ignore it with a single word due to their periodic politics. It was earned with an equal life struggle of women in streets, factories, workplaces, campuses, and all places."   "On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the opening of the convention for signature, we say it again; Neither being a party to a convention that is vital for women like the Istanbul Convention, nor deciding to withdraw from the convention is not depend on a promise that comes between the lips of a single man," she said. In the statement, it was emphasized that such an important decision regarding the lives of women, the sacrifice of the power to dirty alliance relations, is unacceptable.