ANKARA
CHP Bartın MP and Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Member Aysu Bankoğlu made an important speech targeting women’s rights defenders at the June session of the Council of Europe held in Strasbourg. Bankoğlu emphasized that populist governments targeting women’s rights defenders is a strategy used to suppress and manipulate women’s rights in order to preserve the patriarchal order. She particularly cited Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention as a clear example of such an attitude.
In her speech at the Council of Europe session, Bankoğlu dedicated it to the Saturday Mothers, along with Gezi Trial detainees Çiğdem Mater and Mine Özerden, and stated that populist governments mostly target women’s movements and rights defenders. In her speech at the PACE General Assembly, Bankoğlu emphasized how populism targets women’s rights defenders and the importance of this situation, and said the following:
“To the thousands of brave women who participated in the feminist night march…”
“I would like to thank Ms. Petra Bayr for this report on the challenges women’s rights defenders face with the rise of populism. I am proud to say that rights defenders in Turkey are an effective opposition to the patriarchal mindset of the government. As a member of parliament and, more importantly, as one of the thousands of women involved in women’s rights activism in Turkey, I dedicate my words today to the women who have achieved their rights through their own struggle, not by the grace of men or political power to the women who are still resisting to bring back the Istanbul Convention; to the thousands of brave women who participate in the feminist night march in Istanbul every year on March 8; to the Saturday Mothers who struggle to learn the fate of their loved ones ; and to Çiğdem Mater and Mine Özerden, environmental human rights defenders who are in prison as a result of the Gezi protests.
“We have to be very careful about these patterns.”
The emphasis on populism in the report is very important. We have seen how populism targets women’s rights defenders. Rights defenders are lynched on many platforms, social media and political platforms because of their political views. Online hate campaigns are intertwined with misogyny, or misogyny. Populist governments often target women’s rights defenders by stereotyping them with the excuse of morality, protecting the family and being a strong country, and maintaining the patriarchal order. Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention is a clear example of this attitude. We must be very careful about these stereotypes. We must think about power and morality, and analyze the aims of populist governments and how populism is used. If women cannot be fit into positions of power or a moral structure, we must redefine these existing structures.
“Women’s rights defenders are being targeted”
This is exactly why women’s rights defenders are a fundamental part of human rights and at the same time an important source of resistance to populist movements. This is also why women’s rights defenders are constantly targeted around the world. Therefore, the Council of Europe’s support in protecting rights defenders is more critical than ever.”
CHP’s Bankoğlu is also one of the architects of the Istanbul Convention, served as GREVIO president and CEDAW member, and was selected as one of the 75 women shown as role models in the 75th anniversary of the Council of Europe. Dr. He congratulated Feride Acar and CHP Secretary General Selin Sayek Böke, who was awarded honorary membership and the Parliament medal by PACE.
