Republic of Turkey; It was withdrawn from the "Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence", known as the "Istanbul Convention" in the public, with a Presidential Decision published in the Official Gazette on March 20, 2021. A lawsuit was filed against this decision by those whose current, personal and legitimate interests were violated. In the aforementioned case, besides the annulment of the decision regarding the allegation that there is a clearly illegality and the potential to cause irreparable or impossible damage, it was also requested to stay its execution.

Since the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence was withdrawn by a Presidential Decision, the decision regarding the request for stay of execution in the case before the Council of State as a court of first instance was published on 29 June 2021. In its relevant decision, the 10th Chamber of the Council of State rejected the request for a stay of execution by a majority of votes.

In the related case, “The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, approved by Law No. 6251, can only be terminated with the will of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, pursuant to the principle of parallelism in authority and procedure, and the President's discretion is not disclosed. It has been claimed that the Presidential Decision, which is the subject of the case, does not have a public interest purpose. In the defense of the administration; “… international treaties are approved by the President after the TGNA approves ratification, the ratification law is not a ratification process, the treaty is not ratified by this law, only the executive branch approves the treaty, unlike the other regulatory acts of the President's executive organ, without relying on any law or by the legislative body. It has been stated that the signing, negotiation and ratification of treaties is related to the executive authority, since it can make arrangements at first hand through Presidential Decrees without approval, and from this point of view, the ratification and termination procedures of international treaties are regulated in the Presidential Decree No. In addition, in the defense, “… The provision in Article 90 of the Constitution that duly enacted international treaties have the force of law cannot be interpreted as that the treaties are organically a provision of law adopted by the TGNA, and therefore, the action of the TGNA is needed in order to terminate it. ” is highlighted.

The 10th Chamber of the Council of State, in its decision on the subject, said, “…Assessing together the issues that the executive power belongs to the President in accordance with the Constitution, that the termination of international treaties is related to the executive power, and that the TGNA has not been given any duty or authority in the Constitution and laws regarding the annulment of international treaties; It is concluded that the proceedings regarding the annulment of international treaties will be carried out by the President within the scope of his executive power and duty, which derives from the Constitution, and that the President, who has discretion to ratify or not ratify the international treaty after the approval law, does not require the legislative body to establish an action when exercising his power of annulment regarding the executive activity. He used ..” expressions. Moreover, in the court decision, “…Article 80 of the said Convention may terminate this Convention at any time by a notification to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. …” is included, and there is no hesitation when the Grand National Assembly of Turkey approves the ratification of the said Convention, and when it gives the authority to terminate the Convention to the “Parties” – by the way, to the executive body/President – regarding the termination of the aforementioned Convention…”.

In this study, by specifying the features of the acceptance of an international agreement, how the contracting states can withdraw from any international agreement and the consequences of this withdrawal in our domestic law are evaluated in terms of procedural provisions. In this context, based on the withdrawal of the Republic of Turkey from the "Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence", a legal analysis of this decision and the court's decision as a result of the lawsuit was made.

Keywords: International Treaty, Withdrawal, Istanbul Convention, Council of State, Stay of Execution.