Members of the "No to the Istanbul Convention" initiative are holding a petition in the city of Etchmiadzin today.
The Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) has recently become a hot topic in Armenia. The Ministry of Justice insists that people misunderstand the Convention and supports ratification of the Convention, while members of the "No to the Istanbul Convention" initiative see risks and insist that the Convention must not be ratified.
Out of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, 34 have ratified the Convention, 11 have signed, but haven’t ratified it, and one of those countries is Armenia. Russia and Azerbaijan haven’t signed the Convention.