Women underrepresented in Turkey’s top state posts

ISTANBUL

Women continue to be underrepresented at Turkey’s top-level state positions, according to recent research released by a Turkish NGO working on women’s representation.

On the eve of International Women’s Day, which is celebrated each year on March 8, the Association for the Support and Training of Women Candidates (KADER) released its eighth annual report about the representation of women in Turkey’s top state positions.

While 77 of 535 MPs are women, the ratio of female to male ministers in the cabinet is just one to 25. In addition, only two of Turkey’s 81 provincial governors are women and only one of its 25 undersecretaries are women.

While only one head of Turkey’s top judicial bodies is a woman, three of 300 metropolitan municipality mayors and 14 of 174 university rectors are women, according to the KADER report.

It all adds up to picture in which women barely exist in decision-making positions in the Turkish state.
KADER Head Gönül Karahanoğlu said on March 6 that Turkey was making little progress regarding the representation in women in the state’s top positions.

“Women, who constitute 50 percent of society, also need to be represented at 50 percent in parliament. The ratio of 14.39 percent of women in parliament means that women don’t have their voices heard and don’t get equal-rights legislation passed,” said Karahanoğlu.

She also added that there were no women deputies in 43 of Turkey’s provinces, and expressed the hope that this would change with the general elections on June 7.