BMENA: TURKS KEEP DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE DIALOGUE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ISTANBUL 000211 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, NEA/PI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL TU XD XF XI KDEM KWMN SUBJECT: BMENA: TURKS KEEP DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE DIALOGUE MOVING FORWARD REF: 05 ISTANBUL 1080 This message is sensitive but unclassified. Not for internet distribution. ¶1. (U) Summary: A February 6-7 conference organized by the Turkish NGO TESEV within the framework of the Democracy Assistance Dialogue (DAD) brought together 150 NGO and government representatives from around the Middle East and North Africa to develop an action platform to increase the role of women in public life in the region. Building on the proceedings of a June 2005 DAD symposium, the group formulated concrete recommendations calling on governments to ratify, narrow reservations to, and implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW),with a particular focus on the issues of political participation and personal status law. They also recommended the establishment of a region-wide gender institute. Governments will take up the proposals at a follow-on event in May. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Can Paker, President of the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV),which helped organize the conference, told participants that a "powerful and organized request" by women in Turkey is what had led to progress on women's rights in this country. He expressed hope that the DAD's efforts would improve dialogue between civil society and governments in the region. The value added of DAD, his colleagues said, is its promise to be a continuous and transparent process, with a bottom up focus on local ideas. Setting the stage for the two-day event, organizers called for participants to focus on political participation, as that affects all other issues, and urged participants to develop concrete recommendations for delivery to Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) government officials. In addition to NGO and government officials from across the BMENA region, conference attendees included European MP Emma Bonino; former UK Ambassador to Yemen Frances Guy, who now heads up the FCO's Engaging with the Islamic World initiative; and World Bank official Shaha Aliriza, currently serving as advisor to the NEA Bureau. ¶3. (U) GOT Participation: Speaking on behalf of FM Gul, Turkey's MFA Coordinator for the Broader Middle East Initiative Ambassador Omur Orhun said the DAD has proven to be a useful instrument to bolster reform processes. He called for an expanded role for women in public life, and noted that existing challenges in this area were compounded by a "misrepresentation and/or misinterpretation of cultural and religious values." Gul's message stressed that the Turkish role in the G-8's BMENA initiative is that of a democratic partner of the region, sharing experiences to facilitate local reform efforts. He acknowledged that Turkey still has much to do to improve the status of women here, but argued the government's constructive relationship with civil society would be of benefit in addressing the situation, and pointed out the first OIC Conference on Women will be hosted by Turkey late in the year. ¶4. (U) Some Success, but Still Working: Turkish women who were empowered by their campaign to reform Turkey's penal code shared success stories with participants, and identified their next target: transformation of the political party system. Women are excluded from political participation systematically, they said, lamenting that in Turkey, there is no consensus for implementation of a quota system to enhance women's participation. (Note: Conference participants almost universally accepted quotas as good. End note.) Other participants also suggested the utility of monitoring media for gender bias, and of training journalists in such issues. ¶5. (SBU) True Grit: Several participants from the region shared their experience of taking risks to improve the political status of women in their respective countries. On the margins of the conference, Bahraini participant Ghada Jamsheer told us that she had multiple court cases against her for her demands to codify family laws in Bahrain and reform the sharia-based family courts there and had been threatened after a recent interview with Al Arabiya on the issue. Palestinian human rights activist Bassem Eid exhibited courage of a different kind in the workshop itself. A group brainstorming ways to hold governments to commitments entailed by CEDAW was skeptical that any monitoring committee could have teeth. Eid suggested that participants press for autonomous bodies around the region to supervise and report on governments' performance and ethics; ISTANBUL 00000211 002 OF 003 when asked for one concrete example of such an institution existing and being effective in the region, he pointed to Israel's state Comptroller. ¶6. (SBU) Islamists on the Ascent?: The conference took place against the backdrop of the "caricature controversy" and the recent Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections. The former did not garner much comment other than a TESEV organizer's view in opening remarks that "sacred values should not be attacked in the name of freedom of speech." Conference participants were abuzz throughout the two day conference, however, about the Hamas victory and the role women had played in achieving that victory, and the perception that Islamists were gaining in countries where free and fair elections were taking hold. Opinions were diverse as to what that meant for activists working to improve the status of women. ¶7. (SBU) What does it mean for us?: A Turkish participant opined that the region is being divided into two, with a paradox developing between the modern and the traditional. The difference between the two points of view, she said, is often defined by perspectives about women and their role in society. Politically empowered radical religious movements have a negative psychological impact on some women, she asserted, but at the same time these movements have been mobilizing other women and making them more active politically. A Pakistani NGO activist noted that selective democracy is not an option. If Islamists win, she said, the region's women's movements must determine how to work with them. ¶8. (SBU) Who Speaks for Whom?: An Egyptian academic noted that voices must be disaggregated: who is speaking for whom? She underlined that while many comment that the views of women are not homogenous in the region, "we keep talking about them as if they were." As if to illustrate her point, a Kuwaiti claimed that it was mostly women supporting Islamists, and that they don't have the "cultural competence" to raise their voice. An Egyptian claimed that the rise of Islamic movements everywhere -- including, she claimed, in Jordan and Morocco -- eventually will bring about a total reorganization of society, and that women must "be prepared." Yet another participant countered that religion must not be blamed for everything. Freedom of speech doesn't even exist in some places, she said, let alone women's rights, and that oppression came far before the rise of Islamists. She urged her colleagues not to put religion at the center of all discussions and to focus on the issues. ¶9. (SBU) Interpreting the Qur'an: All the same, several participants stressed the need for women to take interest in theological arguments limiting women's rights. Women must claim the right and competence to interpret scripture, which would then allow them to challenge problematic chauvinistic interpretations, she said. Conference participant Asma Barlas, a U.S.-based professor of Pakistani origin and author of "Believing Women in Islam, Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an," seemed to share this view. She expressed discouragement that her 2002 book on this topic was not more widely known amongst Muslim women, but noted that at least one girl's school in Indonesia had incorporated her work into its curriculum. ¶10. (U) CEDAW: International Bill of Rights?: At the end of two days of wide-ranging discussions, conference workshop moderators produced a statement documenting specific conclusions and recommendations. Among other action requests, conference participants called upon governments to ensure a hospitable environment for NGOs, and urged governments to ratify, narrow reservations to, and implement CEDAW. They also called for the creation of a region-wide gender institute, charged with enhancing civil society and government dialogue, and facilitation and review of CEDAW implementation in the individual countries of the region. ¶11. (U) Next Steps: These conclusions will be presented to a group of government and NGO representatives from around the region at a GOT-hosted meeting in Turkey this May 22-23, whose goal will be to develop concrete measures to improve the status of women. As part of the continuing DAD process, the dialogue on the recommendations and strategy development will continue at a meeting of civil society and governments set for Sana'a in June 2006, and at the next Forum for the Future meeting, to be held in Jordan later this year. As part of the DAD process, participants will also be encouraged to develop specific in-country activities to advance the ISTANBUL 00000211 003 OF 003 issues raised in these regional discussions. This focus on in-country activities will be an important part of the DAD work in 2006. Bakhtiar Amin, member of the selection committee to appoint the board of directors for the Foundation for the Future, made spontaneous closing remarks, informing participants about the creation of the Foundation for the Future, and larger network of which the DAD forms a part, and calling for recommendations for the Foundation board. ¶13. (SBU) Comment: The diversity of voices making themselves heard at the conference drove home yet again that "women" and "Muslims" and "Muslim women" are not monolithic groups. Conference workshops got off to a slow start as some participants were frustrated by occasionally wandering discussions, due precisely to the breadth of participants' experiences and backgrounds (and everyone's desire to get in their two cents' worth). But as time went on, the event gathered steam and focus, and participants seemed upbeat by the end, hopeful that their recommendations would lead to at least renewed dialogue with governments on women's rights topics that have not been prioritized or even considered, in some cases. The GOT and its NGO partner, TESEV, continue to play a constructive role in promoting dialogue between civil society and governments in the region about the importance of women's role in public life The response to these recommendations by government representatives meeting later this year will be the next key to keeping the DAD moving. End Comment. JONES