We Made a Presentation at the Meeting of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Commission on Investigation of Violence Against Women

The "Parliamentary Research Commission Established for the Purpose of Investigating All Aspects of the Causes of Violence Against Women and Determining the Measures to be Taken" convened in the Turkish Grand National Assembly under the chairmanship of AK Party Malatya Deputy Öznur Çalık. Our Commission Secretary General Atty. Ali Kurt also made a presentation.

He said that the issue of violence against women is one of the harsh realities facing both Turkey and the free world, and that a zero tolerance approach should be adopted together.

Emphasizing that the Turkish nation has an ancient understanding of civilization and that there are certain civilizational judgments that have made the nation united, alive, and kept it alive for centuries, Kurt stated that it is not right to go against this historical reality while shaping the society.

Stating that the lines between the lines of the Istanbul Convention, especially under the title of preventing violence against women, were not taken into consideration, Kurt said: "International agreements are generally legal texts that can make reservations at any time. However, since we were faced with the dilemma of whether these family-related agreements will be accepted in their entirety or not, we could not object to the details, and in the end, Turkey rightfully had to withdraw from this agreement. Withdrawing from this agreement does not mean that we will not fight violence against women." At this point, we must follow a protocol that acts on a much more principled basis and aims to develop proactive rather than reflexive attitudes. Because, unfortunately, every decision taken reflexively produces undesirable consequences. As the game conditions change, we encounter results that we do not want at all. "At this point, the Istanbul Convention presents us with a picture that does not find its response in society and where violence against women is increasing."

Kurt said that the family contract they prepared as UNIW with the Union of Muslim Scholars is a manifesto text in terms of containing basic references.

Underlining that violence should be categorically opposed, Kurt stated that it is not possible to embrace violence against women in Muslim culture.

Underlining that they do not find it right to define violence, especially based on religious culture, Kurt continued as follows: "I would like to draw your attention to the fact that our civilization has been specifically targeted in the international texts to which we have been a party so far. Islam is the religion of peace, the religion of mediocre, its stance and attitude towards women are clear. While our attitude is so obvious, I think that various concepts such as so-called honor and some concepts related to our own values ​​are used consciously, and I would like to express that this is not right. Unless we can create our own legal texts based on our own value judgments, we will be forced to import such precedent regulations. Until today, we could have made such regulations without the Istanbul Convention or CEDAW. We must admit that since international agreements are considered above legal norms, they cannot even be claimed to be contrary to the Constitution. Therefore, when accepting such texts, extreme attention should be paid to the secondary articles they contain.”

Ali Kurt stated that he saw significant difficulties in defining violence, and that if the content of these definitions is not determined correctly, these elements do not reduce violence against women, but on the contrary, they become triggers.

Underlining that when creating legal texts, care should be taken to determine the members very well, Kurt pointed out that the facts that cause violence should be well determined.

Referring to the importance of not only punishing crime but also highlighting measures that can prevent this crime in the concept called philosophy of crime and punishment, Kurt said, "The issue of violence against women should be addressed not alone, but together with causal connections. When we look into these, we see alcohol and drug use. In addition, we see that some bad habits such as gambling and prostitution are among the basic facts that trigger violence. While women somehow rebel and are subjected to violence at home; Unless we can solve the reasons that feed this, we will be following a path that consists of spending time catching flies without touching the swamp. I see it as a very dangerous perspective to define the most important causes of violence by narrowing it down to men only. "We have to accept violence not only as violence against women, but as a human rights problem." he said.

Source: Anadolu Agency-İsmail Çimen