Ankara, Aug 6 (TIWN) Thousands of women staged simultaneous rallies across Turkey, urging the country's authorities to take decisive measures against gender-based domestic violence.

The rallies on Wednesday were the biggest in recent weeks amid growing anger about the rising number of women killed by men in recent years and speculation that Turkey might withdraw from the 2011 Council of Europe accord, known as the Istanbul Convention.

The convention, which came into force in 2014, is the world's first binding instrument to prevent and combat violence against women - from marital rape to female genital mutilation. Turkey was the first country to ratify it.