Turkey women protest Istanbul Convention pullout

Around 100 protesters gathered in Istanbul on Friday to demand the reversal of a recent decision by Turkey's president to withdraw from a landmark treaty aimed at protecting women from violence.

Friday's protest was part of demonstrations which have been ongoing for almost two weeks, following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's surprise decree to leave the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention.

The Convention states that men and women have equal rights and obliges state authorities to take steps to prevent gender-based violence against women, protect victims and prosecute perpetrators.

Demonstrators demanded the decree be withdrawn and called for an end to anti-LGBT actions amid growing intolerance from the government and police.

Women's rights groups and their allies called for demonstrations across the country last Saturday under the slogan "Withdraw the decision, implement the treaty."

They say the agreement is crucial to combating domestic violence.

However, some officials from Erdogan's Islam-oriented party had advocated for a review of the agreement, arguing it is inconsistent with Turkey's conservative values by encouraging divorce and undermining the traditional family unit.

The government has said one of the reasons Turkey pulled out of the Istanbul Convention is because it thinks the treaty attempts to "normalize homosexuality."

Hate speech has been on the rise in Turkey, and the country's interior minister has described LGBT people as "perverts" in a tweet.

Erdogan has rejected their existence altogether.