Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pulled his country out of the European Union's treaty on violence against women, his office announced on Saturday.
The accord, which has been called the Council of Europe Convention and the Istanbul Convention, was signed in 2011 and was designed to protect women from domestic violence.
The government did not provide any explanation for the surprising move, which shocked women's rights activists in Turkey.
Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric condemned the move, calling it "devastating."
“This move is a huge setback to these efforts and all the more deplorable because it compromises the protection of women in Turkey, across Europe and beyond,” Buric said.
Members of the government came out to provide reassurances that the decision would not adversely affect women's rights in Turkey.
"The guarantee of women's rights are present in our current laws and especially in our constitution. Our judicial system is dynamic and strong enough to implement new regulations as needed," the Family and Social Policies Minister Zehra Zumrut Selcuk.
Turkey's main opposition party said that the move would reduce women to second-class citizens and vowed to rejoined the accord if they come to power.