Academic Zeynep Alemdar and journalist Barçın Yinanç wrote a report titled “Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Turkey and Women in Diplomacy: How to Integrate the WPS Agenda in Turkish Foreign Policy.”
Twenty-one years have passed since Resolution 1325 of the United Nations Security Council was signed. However, the struggle continues in many parts of the world for the comprehensive implementation of this decision, which draws attention to the dimensions of gender in peace and conflict resolution processes.
When we talk about “1325” or the Women, Peace and Security Agenda today, we are not just discussing the protection of women during armed conflicts or their role in peace processes. The Women, Peace and Security Agenda embraces the presence of women in foreign policy, decision-making positions, overcoming structural inequalities and transforming countries’ gender policies. The open letter published by more than 500 women’s non-governmental organizations in the past months underlined that 79% of armed conflicts take place under conditions where gender discrimination is high. Studies on security and gender show that the role of gender discrimination and existing inequalities cannot be denied in the development of conflicts.
Advocates of 1325 state that the representation of women in all institutions and especially in decision-making positions in foreign policy should be increased in order to overcome deep-seated inequalities. Especially with the spread of feminist foreign policy both as a concept and as a practice, the positive effects of women politicians and diplomats in implementing the 1325 agenda in foreign policy are discussed. So, what is the course of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in Turkey and how are women represented in foreign policy? The report published by the SWP Center for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS) by Zeynep Alemdar and Barçın Yinanç on this issue provides us with a comprehensive framework. The report examines the role of women in foreign policy by providing historical background information and supporting this information on Turkey’s current state with interviews and statistical data.
The highlights of the report are as follows:
The Current State of WPS and Women’s Representation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Turkey still has not developed a National Action Plan (NAP) to implement UNSC resolution 1325. Although the authors think that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took a step in 2016, it seems that this plan was postponed after the coup attempt.
The authors also state that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does a better job in gender equality than other ministries. They underline that 37 per cent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel and 27 per cent of the ambassadors working abroad are women. The study also reveals that dozens of female diplomats active in foreign policy admit that “the overwhelming majority do not have a particular gender perspective”.
The report also provides statistical information about women who take on ambassadorial duties. As of December 2020, 9 of 17 diplomatic missions in Latin America and 13 of 42 diplomatic missions in Africa are led by women ambassadors.
Historical Barriers and Opportunities for Women
The section on the historical background of the report states that women started working in Foreign Affairs in 1932, before many Western European countries. During this period, there was an implementation of a progressive policy such as “equal pay for equal work” as dictated by law. Although the doors of the foreign mission were closed for a while, in the 1950s, women actively returned to duty.
However, throughout this period, many of them had to leave their duties due to institutional obstacles. The biggest of them was the restrictions on “diplomat couples being appointed to the same mission abroad.” This meant that marriage could slow down “the advancement in their own diplomatic careers.”
The visibility of women in foreign policy in Turkey has increased in the 90s, with the end of the Cold War. Interviews conducted by Alemdar and Yinanç also show that women were discriminated against because of their gender. However, the authors emphasise that women worked in “all departments with high security despite the discriminatory practices even at the beginning of their careers” in the 1990s. Also, women diplomats that were interviewed stated that “women have an equal voice with men in domestic decision-making mechanisms”.
Women, Peace and Security
The section of the report that examines the 1325 agenda and foreign policy, puts forward the argument that a gender perspective is necessary to establish a Women, Peace and Security perspective in foreign policy decisions and actions. According to the authors, diplomats who do not have a women’s perspective in conflict resolution and diplomacy may be ineffective in implementing the agenda.
Yinanç and Alemdar state that when they asked women diplomats how they viewed their own positions on peace and security issues, they confessed that “they and their female colleagues approached events differently than men.” Among the feedback, it was said that women are more flexible, are more successful in opening communication channels, and men have “ego problems.” However, most of the women diplomats who describe their experiences and memories in the report underline that they do not like the idea of ”being approached just because they are women”.
What steps should Turkey take to implement the agenda? The authors think that “given Turkey’s explicit efforts to become a global player in mediation efforts” the gender dimension can be included in the mediation field. They state that this will be an easy target to reach, as Turkey already has many women diplomats.
Yinanç and Alemdar also state that given the role of Turkey in humanitarian aid and refugee aid efforts, women can be appointed as ambassadors to provinces with high refugee density such as Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa, and this can facilitate cooperation with donor countries and international organizations. Another example of their suggestions is the appointment of women as civilian advisors to Turkish Armed Forces operations outside of Turkey.
The entire report can be accessed from this link.