Representatives of six opposition parties, known as the “Six-party table”, formed by the Republican People’s Party, Democrat Party, DEVA Party, Future Party, IYI Party and Felicity Party, met with women’s non-governmental organizations, academics and journalists at the online event organized the SES Equality and Solidarity Association.
Representatives answered questions from women’s non-governmental organizations and members of the press after their presentations on policy proposals to ensure gender equality.
Representatives of six opposition parties, known as the “Six-party table”, formed by the Republican People’s Party, Democrat Party, DEVA Party, Future Party, IYI Party and Felicity Party, met with women’s non-governmental organizations, academics and journalists at the online event organized the SES Equality and Solidarity Association.
Representatives of the “Six-party table” namely CHP Deputy Chairman Muharrem Erkek, Democratic Party Deputy Chairman Bülent Şahinalp, DEVA Party Law and Justice Policy President Mustafa Yeneroğlu, Future Party Chairman Deputy Ayhan Sefer Üstün, IYI Party Deputy Chairman Bahadır Erdem and Saadet Party Deputy Chairman Bülent Kaya attended the meeting moderated by the Founding President of the SES Equality and Solidarity Association Gülseren Onanç,
“Gender equality is part of the struggle for democracy and development“
The event, which was broadcast live on the official Youtube account of SES Association, started with the opening speech of Gülseren Onanç.
Onanç said that women’s movement in Turkey is looking for an answer to the question “What Role Will Women Play in Turkey’s Democracy Building?” with a series of meetings organized by SES since last September. “Today, we will directly ask the questions in our minds to the interlocutors. I believe that the answers we will receive from party representatives who set out to build democracy in Turkey today will shed light on the process ahead.”
Summarizing the purpose of the meeting as “to call on the six-party table to fight together with the women’s movement to achieve gender equality,” Onanç said. “We believe that it is important for men to fight actively with us instead of waiting quietly on the sidelines. Because gender equality is not only a women’s rights issue, but also it is related to democracy and development.”
After Onanç’s opening, representatives of the alliance responded the questions of “What organizational/institutional transformations do you intend to make in order to have women politicians in the party?”, “What do you plan to do to solve the problem of under-representation of women in politics?“, “What are the common principles on which the six-party table agreed on the protection of women’s rights and gender equality? and “What are your suggestions for women to support the alliance and its presidential candidate?”
Deputy Chairman of CHP Muharrem Erkek stated that all the political and social gains Turkey has achieved in 100 years are in danger as a result of the presidential system. “Turkey has been thrown into such a system that all rights and freedoms are under threat. We need to change this system. That’s why we are working for a strengthened parliamentary system.There are serious problems with women’s rights. Violence against women is a serious problem. Women are not sufficiently represented in business life and politics. We pay attention to gender equality and equal representation in the constitutional reform commission.”
Bülent Şahinalp, Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Party underlined that, as six-party table, they work for women’s participation in education, business life and decision-making mechanisms.
Arguing that women are hesitant about entering into politics Şahinalp said, “Participation is not at the desired level in the headquarters and district centers. There is low demand. We need to encourage this.”
‘Achieving gender equality should be a state policy’
DEVA Party Head of Law and Justice Policies Mustafa Yeneroğlu stated that they, as DEVA Party, talked and discussed the issue of women in detail and came to an agreement that “Achieving gender equality in all decision-making mechanisms should be a state policy.”
Yeneroğlu emphasized the importance of education policies in ensuring gender equality and stated that these policies will be reviewed.
‘We want to eliminate the disadvantages of women in politics, social life and employment’
Deputy Chairman Ayhan Sefer Üstün, who attended the meeting on behalf of the Future Party, said “We came together to defend the rights of humanity, not to defend women’s rights per se, but to defend the rights of all of Turkey.”
IYI Party Deputy Chairman Bahadır Erdem, on the other hand emphasized the relationship between women’s rights and the Republican values.
“Women’s rights in Turkey means the founding values of the Republic. Those who attack women today have never stopped and never will. Stating that to attack women’s rights and gender equality is to attack the Republic, Erdem said: “I believe in the power of women in Turkey. I learned a lot from activist women.”
Emphasizing the importance of working together to ensure gender equality, Erdem said, “Believe in the sincerity of six-party table. It is not possible for us to move forward by disregarding half of the population.”
‘Women’s representation is essential for the construction of a strong and pluralist democracy”
Bulent Kaya, Vice Chairman of the Felicity Party, expressed that they agreed that women’s social, economic and political situation should be strengthened in order to build a strong and pluralistic democratic political system.
Expressing that they are aware of the fact that women are not sufficiently present in social and political life, Kaya said, “There are certain reasons for this. Parliament and political parties should develop policies that will support women’s participation in politics.
Kaya also evaluated the Felicity Party’s attitude towards the Istanbul Convention.
“We are aware of the importance of the Istanbul Convention on violence against women. But we also want to talk about its problematic aspects. The Istanbul Convention is one of the international agreements made for the prevention of violence against women and domestic violence. It must be admitted that this contract has not been sufficiently discussed both during the writing phase and in the Parliament. Just as we have to get the consent of the whole society in the constitution-making process, societal participation and criticism should be evaluated in such agreements that concern the general public.”
The event concluded with the song “Put a Woman in Charge” performed by Keb ‘Mo’ with Rosanne Cash.