Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ANKARA1474
2009-10-13 14:28:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

WOMEN IN POLITICS: THE ROAD IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PINR PREL TU 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8616
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHAK #1474/01 2861428
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 131428Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0941
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001474 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL TU
SUBJECT: WOMEN IN POLITICS: THE ROAD IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

REF: ANKARA 163

Classified By: POL Counselor Daniel O'Grady for reasons 1.4 (b,d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001474

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL TU
SUBJECT: WOMEN IN POLITICS: THE ROAD IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

REF: ANKARA 163

Classified By: POL Counselor Daniel O'Grady for reasons 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Summary: The road to political empowerment of
Turkish women continues to be under construction. While
women have equal political rights and freedoms, the right to
vote, and the right to be elected and to engage in political
activity, the number of female Members of Parliament (MPs)
and women in local governments is still low. Turkish women
often stay clear of political careers because of domestic
responsibilities and societal pressures to avoid being active
in public life. In addition, the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) projects its ideal vision of women as
educated but non-working pious housewives. This view does
not support women's active participation in politics. The
government's initiatives for women seem tailored for the EU
reforms display cabinet -- but not for the actual halls of
power. End Summary.

"Traditions" and Working Women in Turkey
--------------


2. (C) Prominent MPs and women's organizations representing
a range of political viewpoints told us that the traditional
Turkish view of women as the sole caregiver of the family
limits the ability of well-educated women to pursue a career.
The majority of women who actively participate in politics
generally do so later in life -- after first finishing their
higher education, raising their children, retiring from
their primary careers, and finally earning a greater social
status due to their age. Nationalist Action Party (MHP)
Deputy Chairwoman Senol Bal also noted that government
employees are not allowed to be members of any political
parties. Therefore, as a former academic, she had to wait
until after retiring from her position at a government
university before she became engaged in politics.


3. (C) According to Prof. Ayse Ayata of the Middle East
Technical University Political Science Department, highly
educated women in Turkey compose approximately 25 percent of
the female population. (Note: Prof. Ayata conducts extensive
studies in Gender and Ethnicity and Political Parties and

Women in Politics. End note.) Ayata stressed that the
second, and most important, segment is the middle 50 percent
of the female population who have some education but who are
largely economically dependent on their husbands or their
families.


4. (C) Ayata told poloff that in order for women to gain
status and become more visible in public, government, and
society, they have to operate within the social restrictions
which are imposed verbally and non-verbally in their
environment. Ayata complained that within the current
Islamist-oriented and socially conservative AKP Government,
women are increasingly expected to cover their heads and stay
at home in order to be considered "proper." The AKP
ministers set a similar example for their constituent group.
Among the current AKP ministers, only two, Egemen Bagis and
Ahmet Davutoglu, have wives with independent careers. Of the
24 married ministers, 20 of their wives wear a headscarf.
Only two AKP Ministers are female. (Note: Neither wears a
headscarf. End Note)


5. (C) Ayata explained that during the last seven years of
AKP governance, the number of women university graduates who
work in the government has dropped from 86 percent to 68
percent, despite what she characterized as the female
applicants' strong educational backgrounds. According to
Ayata, the reason for the drop is the "preferential
treatment" during the hiring process of the AKP government
toward men in general and men from a Muslim religious
background in particular. She also stated that the AKP is
focused more on increasing employment of males because it
believes men should be the primary income-generator for the
family. She noted that the bottom 25 percent of women does
not have adequate access to educational opportunities and
constitutes an entirely different problem.

Women in Politics in Turkey
--------------


6. (C) All contacts with whom we spoke, both women and men,
unequivocally agreed that there are higher educational
requirements for women in Parliament than for men. In
addition to bearing the main responsibility for domestic
chores at home, women are expected to have additional
education degrees, language skills, and work experience in
order to be accepted in the male-dominated Parliament.
Currently there are only 50 women MPs in the 550 seat
Parliament (9.1 percent). Among the total population of MPs,

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the AKP has 340 MPs, with 30 women (8.8 percent). MHP has 71
MPs, with two women (2.8 percent). The Republican Peoples
Party (CHP) has 112 MPs, with 10 women (8.9 percent, contrary
to CHP's own 20 percent female participation quota rule in
their party by-laws). In a sharp contrast to the general
picture, the Democratic Society Party (DTP) has 21 MPs, with
8 women (38 percent) -- a share in line with the DTP's 40
percent quota rule.


7. (C) Among these MPs, the only female ministers are the
minister for Women and Family Issues, Selma Kavaf, and the
Minister of Education, Nimet Cubukcu. According to Ilknur
Ustun, President of Organization for Supporting Women's
Candidacy (KADER),and Prof. Ayse Sencar of the Ankara
University Department of Political Sciences, AKP's female MPs
have publicly adopted PM Erdogan's political views on all
issues rather than expressing their own opinions freely.
(Comment: This seems an unfair criticism since party
discipline places the constraints on male MPs as well. End
Comment) These MPs believe, Ustun said, that just as PM
Erdogan provided them with their opportunity in politics, he
could push them aside as well.


8. (C) PM Erdogan supports the AKP's Women Auxiliary
Organization (WAO),not least due to its importance in
collecting votes during elections. Fatma Sahin, the head of
AKP WAO, told us it currently has over a million members,
most of whom work as volunteers for the organization. Sahin
also told us that although the WAO ranks include women
without headscarves, the majority of the members are
housewives and wear headscarves. Sahin explained that these
volunteers, because they wear a headscarf and work only with
women, experience little resistance from their families. In
return, they ensure their husbands' job stability in the
party and gain prominence for themselves and their families
in AKP-oriented businesses.


9. (C) However, despite the WAO's large membership base and
importance during elections, the number of women who have
climbed up the organization to higher positions is very low.
Democrat Party (DP) Deputy Chairwoman Selma Acuner contends
that many of the female MPs in the parliament are hand-picked
by PM Erdogan due to their family ties, background, and
connections and that almost none of them were members of the
AKP's WAO. (Comment: As a rival party official, Acuner would
be unlikely to hold a flattering view of the AKP internal
process. End Comment) Few female MPs are assigned to higher
positions. None has responsibility in areas such as
economics or politics. (Note: Although headscarf-wearing
women cannot legally sit in the National Parliament, there
are no such obstacles on the local and provincial levels.
However, even at that level, few women participate. End Note)

Equal Opportunity Commission: More Talk Less Work
-------------- --------------


10. (C) Erten Aydin, a professor at Cankaya University who is
closely aligned to the AKP, told us that PM Erdogan is aware
of the equal opportunity problems for women in politics and
the possible impact on Turkey's European Union accession
process. This may be the reason, she said, why the
Commission on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men was
established in Parliament in December 2008. The Commission
reviews draft laws, follows and informs parliament about
international developments on gender equality issues, and
responds to individual complaints of citizens by informing
the necessary governmental institutions. According to Acuner,
the Commission is currently working on bills concerning child
abuse and domestic violence issues. The head of the
Commission, AKP Chairwoman Guldal Aksit, and MHP Deputy
Chairwoman Senol Bal (a Commission member) stated that the
Commission is new but intends to focus on equal opportunity
issues in more detail in the upcoming months. She conceded,
however, that the Commission has not met more than twice yet
due to the MPs' busy schedules. According to Sencar, for
many years secular and Islamic-oriented women's organizations
worked together on equal opportunity goals. However, she
said, these combined efforts are starting to diminish because
of the limited results.


11. (C) Aydin reminded us that prior to the municipal
elections in March 2009, PM Erdogan told the media that the
government needs to conduct "positive discrimination" in
favor of women in the preparation of the nomination list.
However, Aydin said, attempts to implement Erdogan's policy
were discouraged by male members of the AKP, who complained
that the limited number of positions should go to men.
Perhaps as a result of these complaints, Erdogan did not
proactively seek female candidates, and the number of women
elected to municipal political bodies was a very low 0.5
percent (REFTEL).

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Comment
--------------


12. (C) AKP's secularist critics are, naturally, discontent
about the full range of AKP policies. Still, it seems
indisputable that in Turkey the road that takes women to
influential positions in politics is getting narrower. Women
face higher expectations for education, disproportionate
societal pressures to maintain the home, and reduced access
to political appointments or jobs leading to active
participation in politics. Although the AKP contends it is
elevating women's status in the family, it appears
disinterested in strengthening the role of women in
government and politics. One significant side effect has
been to reduce the collaboration between women activist
groups who wear headscarves and those who do not. These
groups used to work closely together.

JEFFREY

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