Four lawmakers become first female deputies of 3 provinces

Ece Çelik- ANKARA

Four female lawmakers have been elected as the first female deputies of three provinces that had never been represented by a woman before, marking another step in female representation in the country’s legislative body.

In the 28th term of the 600-member parliament elected in the May 14 elections, 121 women will serve.

The Black Sea province of Giresun, the Central Anatolian province of Nevşehir and the southern city of Osmaniye will now be represented by women for the very first time in the parliament.

Becoming the first female lawmaker of Nevşehir as the candidate of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Filiz Kılıç graduated from Ankara’s Hacettepe University’s Turkish Language and Literature Department.

Kılıç managed to get the title of professor in 2005 at Gazi University, where she started to work as a research assistant in 1987.

She was appointed the founding rector of Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University in 2008 and continued this duty until 2017.

In the local elections of March 31, 2019, Kılıç was also the first female mayor candidate of the city.

Elvan Işık Gezmiş, who ran in the election from the list of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), will be Giresun’s first female lawmaker.

“Giresun was a city that had not had a female deputy for 100 years. I thought this was a big problem. Women from the Black Sea region are very hardworking and strong. We need new faces and new people. My candidacy created a great joy in Giresun,” pharmacist and sociologist Gezmiş expressed.

“This achievement is not something I succeeded in on my own. It is the result of success that my female friends made great efforts before. As women, we are everywhere.”

Gezmiş also noted that the first issue she will focus on in the parliament is to create special incentives for hazelnut production in Giresun.

Derya Yanık, a graduate of Istanbul University’s Law Faculty, took part in the establishment of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) after working as an attorney for a long time.

Taking office as the family and social services minister in 2021, Yanık became the first female deputy of Osmaniye.

Asu Kaya Gedik, the other female deputy from Osmaniye, is the daughter of a family that has been living in the city for five generations.

Physician Gedik has been the president of the Osmaniye Chamber of Medicine for many years.

Entering the parliament from the lists of the CHP, Gedik stated that “male deputies could not provide the service that Osmaniye needed.”

“As I have been practicing medicine for many years, I am in contact with all sections of Osmaniye. Everyone has one complaint: No one hears the voice of Osmaniye. When I became a parliamentary candidate at the request of my circle, I received very good reactions. I am from Osmaniye, and I will continue to live in Osmaniye. I also want my children to live in this city. That is why I will work with my fellow countrymen to create a peaceful province,” she said.