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ANKARA/ISTANBUL, July 1 – Thousands of people took to the streets of Turkey’s largest cities on Thursday to protest against the country’s withdrawal from an international treaty to combat violence against women, a move that has drawn strong criticism from Western allies.The protests came hours after President Tayyip Erdogan defended the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, negotiated in Turkey’s biggest city in 2011 and designed to prevent and prosecute violence against women and domestic abuse.“We will not be silenced, we will not fear, we will not bow down,” chanted women among a crowd of several hundred who gathered in the capital Ankara. “We are not giving up on the Istanbul Convention,” read a large purple banner....Erdogan announced the withdrawal in March, saying Turkey would use local laws to protect women’s rights and defended his move on Thursday against those who, he said, portrayed it as “a step backwards” in the battle with violence against women.“Our battle did not start with the Istanbul Convention and it will not end with our withdrawal from the treaty,” he said.
