Erdoğan's statement on the Istanbul Convention: Our withdrawal has not had the slightest negative impact

AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women program at Haliç University.

Here are the highlights from Erdoğan's speech there:

"As a state, we have made the fight against violence against women our fundamental policy. Turkey is in a much better position regarding violence against women compared to the past. If there are those who want to overshadow this success, our sisters know the truth well.

Some are trying to make people forget and overshadow the services we have provided for women by highlighting the concept of family in our ministry's name. We are all aware that the attacks on our family institution in our country have nothing to do with defending women's rights."

'OUR WITHDRAWAL FROM THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION HAS NOT HAD THE SLIGHTEST NEGATIVE IMPACT'

"A peaceful, safe, and respectful family is our strongest fortress against violence against women. Can we define a relationship where a woman is subjected to violence with the concept of a family based on compassion? Who can say that a structure where a child is subjected to physical and psychological violence is a family? By protecting the family, we aim to protect women's rights, especially the issue of violence.

Our withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention has not had the slightest negative impact on women's rights and the fight against violence. The real concrete tools of this struggle are the transformation we have achieved in minds, primarily through Law No. 6284.

We see the fight against violence against women as an inseparable part of our struggle to exalt and strengthen the family. We are continuing our work uninterruptedly for a Century of Turkey without violence. We have reached these days because we are sincere in women's demands for rights and in the support we give them."

'WE CAN NEVER REPAY THEIR DEBT'

"We are placing women who are subjected to violence under state protection with women's shelters, Violence Prevention and Monitoring Centers (ŞÖNİM), and social service centers operating in 81 provinces. If one is looking for women whose hands should be kissed in this country, they are the mothers of martyrs and the soldiers of democracy who resisted on July 15. We can never repay the debt of the women who have caused nightmares for the terrorist organization with the 'sit-in for their children' they held in Diyarbakır.

Some circles have not said a single word for the thousands of women and children who have been basely murdered in Gaza for weeks. They consider it a skill to support oppressors and their apparatuses.

In the coming period, we will continue our reforms and continue to bring our country to the place it deserves."

News Source: 12punto