Ministry, mayor start initiative for women

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Şahin says Turkish women’s economic independence should be strengthened.

The Family and Social Policies Ministry and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality launched an educational financial literacy initiative for 20,000 women in Istanbul on Dec. 16.

The project, “20,000 Women on the Way to Istanbul’s Finance Capital,” will include seminars on savings, loans, budgeting, marriage and money. 

The municipality is aiming to raise women’s awareness of economic matters and strengthen their role within them, a press statement from the municipality said. The seminars will take place across nine different training centers, from January until April 2012.

Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Şahin and Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Kadir Topbaş attended the opening ceremony of the project on Dec. 16. 

“Ten years ago, the population of illiterate women was greater than illiterate men but today I see the women who say, ‘I want to be a financially literate person and have my say on financial matters.’ Money does not just belong to the male business world,” Şahin said in her speech.

“Violence, honor killings and moral laws are … symptomatic of fragmented families and an uneducated society; a society that cannot lead its economy is forced to use violence. The solution is to strengthen women’s economic independence,” Şahin said.