A women’s rights group has taken Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) after the country’s Constitutional Court dismissed its challenge to the 2021 decision, the İlke TV news website reported.

The We Will Stop Femicide Platform applied to the Strasbourg court after exhausting domestic legal remedies, saying the top court’s December 2025 dismissal of the case on the grounds that it lacked legal standing was unlawful.

The association’s lawyers argued that the Istanbul Convention itself recognized women’s organizations as having both victim status and legal interest in filing such cases. They also pointed out that Turkey’s Council of State had not questioned the association’s legal standing during earlier proceedings.

The convention, officially known as the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, is regarded by the rights groups as the most comprehensive international framework addressing violence against women, requiring states to implement measures on prevention, protection and prosecution.

Turkey was the first country to ratify the convention but withdrew by presidential decree on March 21, 2021, a move that sparked criticism from rights organizations, which warned that it weakened protections and accountability mechanisms for victims of domestic violence.

International organizations, rights groups and local women’s associations have continued to call on Turkey to rejoin the convention since the withdrawal.

The lawyers said Turkey could legally withdraw from the Istanbul Convention only through a parliamentary decision rather than a presidential decree. They added that the withdrawal by a single signature violated Article 90 of the Turkish Constitution, which regulates the status and domestic applicability of international treaties.

Several provisions of Turkey’s Civil Code and Penal Code had also been amended in line with the convention, the lawyers said, adding that Law No. 6284 on the protection of the family and the prevention of violence against women was drafted entirely with reference to the treaty. The law explicitly requires courts and authorities to refer to the convention when no relevant domestic provision exists.

The lawyers warned that Turkey’s withdrawal created a gap in the protection of women’s fundamental rights, including the right to life and physical integrity.

Since the withdrawal, violence against women has remained a persistent concern in Turkey. Data compiled by the We Will Stop Femicide Platform show that 280 women were killed in 2021, the year Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention took effect. The group recorded 334 killings in 2022 and 315 in 2023. In 2024, the number rose sharply to 394, the highest level since records began to be kept. In 2025, at least 294 women were killed, while nearly as many deaths were classified as suspicious.