Türkiye

A recent opinion poll has revealed that an overwhelming majority of the Turkish population favors the election of headscarved women to Parliament as deputies, amidst a heated debate over whether political parties can reach a consensus to allow women to enter Parliament with their headscarves.

To read the complete article please visit Today's Zaman 

Many parts of society have begun to loudly voice their demand for the election of a headscarf-wearing deputy or deputies to Parliament in the June 12 general elections. Since Turkey’s first headscarf-wearing deputy, Merve Kavakçı, was thrown out of Parliament amid protests against her headscarf in 1999, no headscarf-wearing candidates have run in the elections.

To read the complete article please visit Today's Zaman 

Amid election promises posed by political parties, a group of women formed a movement with the slogan “No headscarf-wearing candidate – No votes,” demanding that political parties in Turkey include headscarf-wearing candidates in their deputy lists. Spokespeople of the initiative explained their stance to the daily Radikal.

To read the complete article, please visit: DailyNews&EconomicReview

Working in nongovernmental organizations seems to be bringing women closer to politics. A number of NGOs in Turkey are sending their members to Parliament to work for the empowerment of women in the legislative or even executive bodies.  

Nine members of the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey, or KAGİDER, have become candidate nominees for the June 12 elections. 

To read the complete article please visit Hurriyet Daily News 

With the forthcoming elections of June 2011, the issue of “equal representation of women” in the parliament is back on the agenda.  While many women are being candidates for the elections, they also expect the politicians to nominate them to the positions that they might be elected in the lists. Many women question the reasons behind their underrepresentation in the government, despite the fact that they take active role in youth and women branches of politics and face the public directly. 

Following the naming of transsexual Öykü Özen as a candidate nominee from the main opposition, another transsexual has applied to run for Parliament from the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP.

To read the complete article please visit Hurriyet Daily News 

Working in nongovernmental organizations seems to be bringing women closer to politics. A number of NGOs in Turkey are sending their members to Parliament to work for the empowerment of women in the legislative or even executive bodies. Nine members of the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey, or KAGİDER, have become candidate nominees for the June 12 elections.

For more information, please visit: HurriyetDailyNews

Turkish women's groups have been traditionally divided along ideological lines. But they are uniting behind the initiative, launched in March by a non-partisan group called Women Meet Halfway, to have women who wear headscarves placed high enough up on party lists so that they stand a decent chance of being elected.

To read the complete article please visit Eurasianet.org.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s wife, Emine Erdoğan, who had a meeting with the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) female deputy candidates over the weekend, told them that they will be the hope of not only Turkish women, but also of women in neighboring countries.

To read the complete article please visit Today's Zaman.