TURKEY'S WITHDRAWAL FROM ISTANBUL CONVENTION 2011: A VICTORY TO CONSERVATIVES

This article aims to examine why Turkey left the 2011 Istanbul Convention. This study aims to highlight President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's procedures in removing Turkey from the Istanbul Convention and the pressure from interest groups on President Erdogan and Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP) to exclude Turkey from the Istanbul Convention. This research was conducted using qualitative methods through literature study and data from the platform were analyzed, then interpreted to obtain a complete picture of the answers to the problems studied. The results of the study found that Turkey's exit from the Istanbul Convention was a political act to maintain the position, voice and sympathy of conservative groups as well as a form of Turkey's disappointment towards European Union (EU) and non-compliance with the Copenhagen Criteria. In the mechanism, there is a procedural flaw in the output function in the decision making of Turkey's exit from the 2011 Istanbul Convention. The anti-gender stance promoted by the AKP and conservative groups has stalled gender discourse in Turkey. Erdogan and the AKP do not believe that the root of women's oppression is patriarchal culture. The government also denies the fact that in Turkey, gender – based violence is rampant. This shows that the commitment to resolve gender – based violence in Turkey is a mere political commodity