Türkiye

The Women's Media Watch Group (MEDİZ), which is fighting to end sexism in the Turkish media, has published a book suggesting an organized struggle for the protection and enhancing of women's rights in the Turkish media.
To read the full article, please visit Today's Zaman.

The Turkish Coordination of the European Women's Lobby, or EWL, initiated the campaign within the frame of “50/50 Campaign for Democracy,” launched Sept. 16 by the EWL in order to increase women's presence in politics. The Turkish women's lobby advocates for a parity law, which would guarantee an equal number of female and male candidates for all elections, to be applied and safeguarded by the Constitution.
To read the full article, please visit the Turkish Daily News Website.

International Conference on Women and Governance in Eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent states was organized as a joint effort of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in association with Turkish International Cooperation & Development Agency (TIKA) under the Framework of the South-south cooperation Project.

Although Turkey's political parties have started to nominate candidates for the upcoming local elections amidst talk of increasing women's involvement in local administrations, there has been little progress in the cause of equality due to the lack of implementation of gender quotas, the huge expenses of standing as a candidate and the prevailing image of local administrations as a "man's business."
To read the full article, please visit the Sunday's Zaman Website.

"For women, it is difficult to participate in politics in Turkey; there are many obstacles. Women are stuck beneath a glass ceiling. When it comes to local politics, it is even harder for women," said İlknur Üstün, chairperson of the Ankara branch of the Association for Education and Supporting Women Candidates (KA-DER).
To read the full article, please visit Today's Zaman.

The need to protect women against violence and trafficking and to improve their educational opportunities were among the issues highlighted in the introduction to the hearing - titled "The role of women in Turkey in social, economic and political life" - given by MEP Emine Bozkurt (PES, NL), the author of EP reports on women in Turkey in 2005 and 2007. It was not enough to adopt new laws, she said, these laws also need to be implemented.

Women's organizations have called for gender equality education for all in society starting from the top levels, including the president and the prime minister, and down to the bottom, including private citizens, police officers, judges and prosecutors in the wake of a landmark European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision that punished Turkey for failing to provide its citizens with better protection from domestic abuse.

"Turkey can recover its gender equality performance. In this respect, the CHP, as Turkey's social democratic party proposes the following:

• National Women’s Rights Charter and National Women Rights Council to promote gender equality in all aspects of social, economic and political life.

• Increased political representation of women and men in all decision making bodies at local, national and international level.

• Vocational education centres focused on women....."

Founding member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Fatma Bostan Ünsal submitted her application for candidacy for the June 12 election, saying that it was her duty to apply, to represent women wearing headscarves in Turkey.