Ideological Discourses and Women’s Rights: The Case of the Istanbul Convention

Year 2024, Volume: 7 Issue: 3, 569 - 587

Şeyma Akın

Abstract

After the signing of the Istanbul Conventions, serious discussions took place, particularly in Eastern European countries. The interesting aspect of these discussions is that they were usually conducted based on various assumptions and threats rather that the real content of the convention. The aim of the convention is the prevention of all kinds of violence and it was accepted by many countries within a short period of time and later adopted in their domestic legislations. However, in most of the Eastern European countries, it took a different turn. Although the document was signed by them, its ratification was either not carried out or met resistance during its ratification. In Turkey, the discussions were of similar nature, although it was one of the first countries to sign, ratify and adopt it into its legislation. It later decided to withdraw from the convention as the only country to do so. It is interesting to observe the similarities and common discussion points among all these countries regarding the convention. One such similarity in the countries is the claim that the convention has a hidden agenda and aims to undermine national and moral values. In these discussions, the main goal and content of the text is hardly represented and merely used for manipulation. This study focusses on the discussions around the Istanbul Convention in the mentioned countries and highlights the similarities in their argumentation. It also makes reference to discussions in Türkiye both to highlight the similarities and to discuss that the discussions prove not to be very helpful for the women’s problems and violence. Thereby, it underlines the role of ideological perspectives and camps in undermining attempts to solve the problems in the women’s issues.

Keywords

Istanbul Convention, Eastern European countries, Türkiye, ideology, populism

İdeolojik Söylemler ve Kadın Hakları: İstanbul Sözleşmesi Örneği

Abstract

İstanbul Sözleşmesinin imzalanmasının ardından özellikle Doğu Avrupa ülkelerinin bir kısmında ciddi tartışmalar yaşanmıştır. Bu tartışmaların dikkat çekici tarafı, sözleşmenin içeriğinden ziyade çeşitli varsayımlar ve tehditler üzerinden yürütülmüş olmalarıdır. Her tür şiddeti önlemek maksadıyla ortaya çıkan söz konusu metin, bazı ülkeler tarafından hemen kabul edilerek iç mevzuata yansıtılmış, ancak Doğu Avrupa ülkelerin çoğunda belge imzalanmasına rağmen meclis onayı gerçekleşmemiştir. Benzer tartışmaların yaşandığı Türkiye ise, sözleşmenin mecliste onaylanıp iç mevzuatına yansıtılmasına karşın zaman içinde bu sözleşmeden çekilen ilk ve tek ülke olmuştur. Sözleşme karşıtlığının yaygın olduğu ve çeşitli tartışmaların yaşandığı ülkelerin hemen hepsinde bazı benzerlikler ve tartışmalara esas teşkil eden ortak noktalar bulunduğu görülmektedir. Buna göre, tartışmalar metnin içeriğinde yer alan kadın ve şiddetin önlenmesine dönük olmaktan ziyade, sözleşmenin gizli bir gündemi olduğu, milli ve manevi değerlerin altının oyulmasının hedeflendiği gibi hususlara yoğunlaşmıştır. Bu çalışma, İstanbul Sözleşmesi üzerinden kadın konusunun bahsi geçen ülkelerde nasıl tartışıldığını ve bu tartışmalarda öne çıkan benzerliklere odaklanmaktadır. Bu bağlamda çeşitli Doğu Avrupa ülkelerinden örnekler ile Türkiye’de yürütülen tartışmaların benzer tarafları vurgulanmış, ayrıca, söz konusu tartışmalarda özü teşkil eden kadın konusunun ideolojik bakış ve yorumların hedefinde kalması sebebiyle sağlıklı tartışmalar yürütülme zemininin ortadan kalktığı ileri sürülmektedir.

Keywords

İstanbul sözleşmesi, Doğu Avrupa ülkeleri, Türkiye, ideoloji, popülizm

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