Turkey decrees withdrawal from Istanbul Convention
On 20 March 2021, Presidential Decision No. 3718, published in the Official Gazette, announced Turkey’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention. In the causal graph this event weakens Protection of Minority Rights, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.
Read the full account
On 20 March 2021, Presidential Decision No. 3718, published in the Official Gazette, announced Turkey’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention. Turkey had been the first state to ratify the Convention, which opened for signature in Istanbul in 2011. The treaty obliges its parties to prevent violence, protect victims, prosecute perpetrators and accept monitoring by the GREVIO expert group. The United Nations in Türkiye issued a joint statement in response that identified the decision by number and date, and Council of Europe bodies criticized the withdrawal. Legal scholarship has examined how the decision was taken by presidential decree alone, without a vote in the Grand National Assembly, under the executive presidency introduced in 2018. The withdrawal took effect on 1 July 2021. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan carries direct responsibility because the decision was issued under his authority as president.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
PersonDirect responsibility
verified
President who issued the decision withdrawing Turkey from the Istanbul Convention. The withdrawal was effected by presidential decision under Erdoğan's office. Contribution size is permanently_blocked (no sourced fraction); provisional 0.4 is stored only because contributions.size is NOT NULL — not a sourced magnitude. Attached by Pack6 v2; the fact's own sources document the measure.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactTurkey decrees withdrawal from Istanbul Convention
- weakensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
- strengthensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
impact weight 0.68 · verified
Withdrawal from a treaty framework protecting women from violence weakens the named good condition of minority and vulnerable-group protection. Impact type and direction use the same sign convention. Weight basis: Presidential Decision No. 3718 withdrew Turkey from the binding Council of Europe treaty on violence against women and its GREVIO monitoring; a durable legal withdrawal of protection, weighted below direct coercion of persons. Weight 0.68 is the pack's qualitative severity class for this event, not an empirical coefficient.
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.31 (weight 0.68 × strength 0.45)
Observed
29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)
Worse than normalTwo readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).
20212023 Above normal = better
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.31 (weight 0.68 × strength 0.45)
Observed
43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.
Normal is zero · any amount = worse
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.UN Joint Statement in response to Turkey’s withdrawal from Istanbul ConventionUnited Nations in Türkiye · verified
- 2.Legal Effects of the New Presidential System on Turkey’s Treaty-Making PracticeEuropean Journal of International Law · verified
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
- contributed toFactTurkey decrees withdrawal from Istanbul Convention
- weakensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
- strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). Turkey decrees withdrawal from Istanbul Convention. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/turkey-istanbul-convention-withdrawal-decree-2021-03
https://factrail.ai/facts/turkey-istanbul-convention-withdrawal-decree-2021-03
Accessed 16 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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