The Women's Council of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and various women's organizations have filed a lawsuit against the Turkish government's unilateral withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention on the Protection of Women from Violence. In the proceedings before the State Council (tr. Danıştay) in Ankara, HDP co-chair Pervin Buldan appears as a defender of the convention. Along with Buldan, HDP Women's Council Spokesperson Ayşe Acar Başaran, HDP Deputy Parliamentary Group Chairwoman Meral Danış Beştaş and other deputies and members of the HDP Women's Council follow the proceedings, which began earlier on Tuesday.

Before the start of the hearing, Buldan made a statement in front of the State Council building and said, "Women have fought for their rights for many years with their work, their bodies, their words and great sacrifices and have enforced the Istanbul Convention. The fact that the Istanbul Convention is practically dissolved overnight by one man is absolutely unacceptable to us. We have made that clear everywhere and we repeat it again. The Istanbul Convention is not a treaty that can be dissolved and disregarded simply with a few words and a man's signature. Today, thousands of women are becoming targets of men's violence, thousands of women are losing their lives, they are being murdered. In view of this, withdrawal from the Convention is never acceptable to us, and we will continue to defend it everywhere."

"We are the representatives of millions of women"

Buldan further stated, "We, as the HDP, have submitted a request to the State Council in which we object to the withdrawal from the convention. The demand for a positive decision by the State Council is not only ours, but also the demand of millions of women, and we are here as representatives of these millions to observe the procedure. We declare once again that we will never accept this violation of the law. Among us are mothers who have lost their daughters to male violence. We will follow this trial so that millions more mothers in this country will not be put in this position. We will do our best to make sure that millions of women can follow this process, and we will never stop fighting for it. The Istanbul Convention is the red line of all of us. We will never give up that red line, we will never make concessions here."