ياشاسين آذربايجان - Long live Azerbaijan

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The number of female deputies more than doubled in Sunday’s general elections. Increasing from 24 in the previous Parliament elected in 2002 to 50 in Sunday’s elections, women have made their mark on the 2007 general elections. The Justice and development party’s (AKP) responsibility toward women has increased, claims the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey (KAGİDER) President Gülseren Onanç. As evidence, she cites the fact that the Justice and Development party (AKP) yielded more than half of the female deputies in the new Parliament. She said she believes this to be a directive for the AKP’s to solve women’s issues in Turkey. “I do not

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The number of female deputies more than doubled in Sunday’s general elections. Increasing from 24 in the previous Parliament elected in 2002 to 50 in Sunday’s elections, women have made their mark on the 2007 general elections. The Justice and development party’s (AKP) responsibility toward women has increased, claims the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey (KAGİDER) President Gülseren Onanç. As evidence, she cites the fact that the Justice and Development party (AKP) yielded more than half of the female deputies in the new Parliament. She said she believes this to be a directive for the AKP’s to solve women’s issues in Turkey. “I do not know if the AKP has read this as ‘I have now given you the authority and I would like a resolution for my problem.’ But a resolution will be demanded,” she says.

Competent female deputies:

She believes that the AKP’s female deputies are all very competent women. “The AKP has acted very wisely. This is also reflected in the cabinet,” Onanç said. She added that the post of minister responsible from women and family was given to a woman deputy by the AKP government. She said she hopes this is only the beginning as plenty of Turkish women are knowledgeable in economics, social politics and international politics. “Therefore, women could be appointed to environmental, tourism, and sports ministries, for example,” she said. She said that the AKP has traditionally positioned women inside the family. “However, as a party that has slid to the center and that now targets a much larger crowd, it should change this conservative point of view and develop a more liberal and modern view women,” she said. She added that this has been one of the points that labeled the AKP “anti-secular”. “If it gets over this [conservative point of view] it will also be answering to this criticism,” Onanç said. Nursuna Memecan, AKP’s deputy from Istanbul agreed with Onanç’s view that her fellow female AKP deputies are well positioned for the duties that await them. She describes the AKP’s women’s branch as one of the party’s strongest organizations. “It contributes much to the society and the party has a well-educated army of women,” Memecan said.

Major changes not expected:

Memecan said that even though the increase in the number of female deputies is positive, their involvement will not cause a dramatic reform in the way the Parliament works. “It is marvelous that women are better represented in the Parliament. Anywhere they are, they assure that there is more tolerance and common sense,” she said. Republican People’s Party Deputy Professor Necla Arat believes that in order to affect the decision-making process, the capability of the female deputies is more important than their numbers. “Female deputies should at least agree on a common denominator in the education, health-care, employment, and political participation of women,” she said. KAGİDER board member Aysun Sayın agreed with Memecan that the presence of higher numbers of women in the Parliament will not cause major changes in Turkey’s political system or affect decisions in the short term. “It is better than 24,” she said, referring to the number of women deputies in the previous Parliament.

Sayın said that some time must pass for all women deputies to start working together. “The tensions between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Republican People’s Party (CHP) reflected by all of the candidates will also be reflected in relationships between women deputies in the Parliament,” Sayın said. Nevertheless, she was also hopeful that some of the female deputies will collaborate with KAGİDER in the future to make women’s voices heard. “Such as the CHP deputy Nevin Gaye Erbatur and independent Aysel Tuğluk… These are names who have collaborated with us to improve women’s involvement in politics.” Sayın says. The July 22 general elections have yielded 50 female deputies. Thirty are from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), 10 are from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), two are from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and eight are independents.

NGOs work toward women’s involvement “This clearly shows that women’s issues cannot be left up to the party leaders,” said KAGİDER board member Aysun Sayın, expressing her disappointment in the number of women deputies, which stayed below KAGİDER’s expectations. The increase, she explained, is the achievement of Turkish women and the NGOs’ campaigns, such as the “Is it necessary to be a man to enter the Parliament?” by the Association to support Female Candidates (KA-DER) featuring famous Turkish women wearing mustaches. “Electoral laws should be changed before the 2009 local elections and the positive quotas are introduced before the next general elections,” Sayın said, explaining that as an NGO they will put all their energy into having the quotas established.

“I hope it to initiate change in the Political Parties’ Statute,” said KAGİDER President Gülseren Onanç, adding that because Turkey’s political culture is overly dependent on the party leader, the political culture will not change unless this system changes. “A transition should be made to an all-inclusive system [including the women],” Onanç said. Aysun Sayın explains that KA-DER has come up with a women’s political program, asking for resolution of urgent problems, such as domestic violence and positive quotas. “It is a program that all of them can collaborate on, regardless of what party they are from.” AKP deputy Memecan agrees that time is required to assure more women’s involvement in politics. “The numbers are low but it cannot happen all at once. I am sure that the number of female deputies will increase in the next elections,” she said.

, Voice of a Nation

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