SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Turkey officially withdrew on Thursday from an international treaty to prevent violence against women.
Reuters reported that thousands of people were set to protest across Turkey, where a court appeal to halt the withdrawal was rejected this week.
“We will continue our struggle,” president of the Federation of Turkish Women’s Association Canan Gullu said, according to Reuters.
“Turkey is shooting itself in the foot with this decision,” she added.
Ankara’s withdrawal triggered condemnation from both the United States and the European Union, and critics say it puts Turkey even further out of step with the bloc that it applied to join in 1987.
“Our country’s withdrawal from the convention will not lead to any legal or practical shortcoming in the prevention of violence against women,” Turkish President Tayyib Erdogan’s office said in a statement to the administrative court on Tuesday.
