TURKEY: LOCAL ELECTIONS NO BOON FOR GENDER EQUALITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000163

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: LOCAL ELECTIONS NO BOON FOR GENDER EQUALITY

REF: ANKARA 125

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


1. (U) This is a joint Embassy Ankara - Consulate General
Istanbul cable.


2. (C) Summary: Few female candidates have been selected by
political parties for March 29 local elections. Only 44
female candidates are among the thousands running in Turkey's
mayoral races. Contacts from the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) told us that their polling
demonstrates that females are not viable candidates in
mayoral races. The headscarf taboo also appears to be a
barrier, as no party wants to ignite this lightning rod issue
by naming a headscarf-covered candidate to a prominent
position. The parties do better in nominating female
candidates for municipal assembly and village council races;
AKP says it is on target to have women be one-third of its
candidates for these races. KADER, a women's rights group
that supports the institution of a national quota for female
officials, told us male-dominated political party hierarchies
are a strong impediment to female participation. Women also
report the substantial financial sacrifice required as part
of Turkey's "pay-to-play" political system as a significant
barrier to entering politics. Reforming Turkey's gender
equality glass ceiling is an immense challenge that will
require a fundamental change in most Turks' beliefs about the
inequality of men and women. All signs are that this will be
a long road ahead. End summary.

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Few Female Candidates
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3. (C) Turkish voters go to the polls March 29 to select 16
metropolitan municipal mayors and approximately 3,000 mayors
of smaller municipalities as well as members of municipal
assemblies (reftel). Political parties have selected nearly
all of their candidates, and the number of female candidates
is alarmingly low. Parties have named a total of 11 female
candidates to run for mayor in Turkey's 81 provincial
capitals, and 33 female candidates to run in other mayoral
races. AKP chose only one woman to run for mayor in one of
the 81 provincial capitals; Republican People's Party (CHP)
has thus far selected five; Democratic Party (DP) one, and
pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) two. By
nominating 15 mayoral candidates so far (two in the major
cities; 13 in the smaller municipalities),DTP is continuing
to propose more women for positions of power than any other
party. But even in the unlikely case that most of the female
candidates win, Turkey will have made little improvement over
the status quo: only 18 of 3225 mayors across the country
are currently women. Although parties have not yet released
the names of candidates for municipal assemblies and village
councils, they are expected to follow the past practice of
selecting relatively more female candidates for these less
prominent positions.

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Women's Rights Group Fighting Uphill Battle
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4. (C) Hulya Gulbahar, President of KADER, a women's rights
group that supports the institution of a national quota for
female officials, told us at a January 14 lunch hosted by the
Istanbul Consul General that as AKP and other parties have
named their candidates, they have followed the historical
pattern of naming female candidates to municipal assemblies
and other positions of little import. Parties believe they
"waste" money on women candidates who are perceived as weaker
and less likely to win.


5. (SBU) Gulbahar told us that despite solid attendance at
KADER's nine political training schools, there are several
factors that continue to prevent the elevation of more women
to higher office. Many women who attend KADER's training
schools are reluctant to push for positions higher than that
of muhtar (village headman). These women cite the financial
demands of advancing in politics, especially at the local
level, in Turkey.


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AKP Cites Unelectability of Women
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6. (C) AKP Deputy Vice Chair Reha Denemec told us January 29
that AKP places great importance on the inclusion of women at
all levels of the party. Women continue to play prominent
roles at both the local and national level of AKP, and 17
percent of the 17,000 people who recently completed AKP's
civics course to prepare for possible candidacy were women.
He said that AKP is on track to meet PM Erdogan's stated goal
of having one-third of all municipal assembly candidates be
women. AKP had selected few female mayoral candidates
because AKP's frequent polling throughout the country showed
that females mayoral candidates are less competitive. AKP
Central Disciplinary Board Chair Ismail Safi told us January
20 that relatively few women were named as mayoral candidates
because "voters outside of big cities generally perceive men
to be more capable of handling the type of work required to
run a municipality." Both contacts told us that the
perception that women are unelectable at the mayoral level
demonstrates that Turkish society still possesses a
male-chauvenist attitude toward women.

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The "Lightning Rod" Headscarf Issue
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7. (C) AKP contacts told us that there is no legal limitation
on headscarved women participating in local politics, and the
headscarf issue plays no role in limiting female political
participation in municipal assemblies and village boards.
Denemec said that in practice AKP and other parties have many
headscarved politicians in municipal assemblies and village
councils. However, at the mayoral level the headscarf
"taboo" is a limiting factor, according to Denemec. He said
that Turkey's "unwritten rules" guarantee that nominating a
covered female mayoral candidate assures a contentious race
that would attract national attention. AKP is not ready to
push this "lightning rod" issue now, he explained.


8. (C) Hidayet Tuksel, the headscarf-covered President of the
conservative Ankara Women's Platform, chided AKP and other
political parties for seeking to "avoid trouble" by failing
to place more covered women on the ballot in critical races.
Tuksel is organizing a series of hour-long sit-ins in front
of AKP, MHP, and CHP to draw attention to the issue and to
urge parties to "put their money where their mouth is" by
naming more female candidates. Tuksel hopes this and a
letter-writing campaign will influence the parties while they
are still naming final candidates.

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Comment
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9. (C) The persistently low number of female candidates in
March local elections is evidence of gender inequality in
Turkish politics that reflects a wider problem of societal
inequality between men and women. Despite AKP's purported
resolve to improve this equation, the election figures
suggest a worsening trend. A 2008 study by IRIS, an
Ankara-based non-governmental organization, also highlights
the diminishing number of women in the upper echelons of
bureaucracy, noting that the percentage of women in
governmental executive positions has declined from 15.1
percent in 1994 to 11.8 percent today. This problem is
rooted in very basic educational and employment decisions.
The illiteracy rate among women is 20 percent, while female
workforce participation is 24 percent, the lowest of any OECD
member. Political parties remain for the most part
male-dominated hierarchical structures that are reluctant to
push the envelope by naming female candidates for prominent
races. Women have failed to unite behind charismatic female
politicians, further impeding progress. Shattering Turkey's
gender equality glass ceiling is a long-term prospect.
Continued coaxing from the EU and international actors will
help, but cannot substitute for the Turkish government at all
levels initiating substantial educational and social reforms.

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Jeffrey