In the path to elections that are presumed to take place next year in Turkey, what will be the opposition’s policies regarding women’s issues? In her article at Duvar, Müzeyyen Yüce focuses on the promises of opposition parties and highlights that women’s employment and poverty are among the issues that the parties see as a common problem.
Müzeyyen Yüce – Gazete Duvar
Opposition parties have started their mobilisation as May-June 2023 has been marked as the election date in Turkey. Leaders are speeding up their tours around the country, party organisations are also taking to the streets with various campaigns.
In this process, where violence against women and women’s poverty have increased, especially in the context of Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, the promises of political parties to women are also extremely important.
Policies on women’s rights that will be included in the election manifestos of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Good Party, (IYI), Future Party, Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), Felicity Party and Democrat Party, which are known as the “six-party opposition table” are also on the agenda.
While six political parties make similar promises on the prevention of violence against women, 5 parties, except the Felicity Party, emphasise that the provisions and sanctions of the Istanbul Convention will be implemented.
Among the issues that the parties see as a common problem and make promises are women’s employment, gender inequality and women’s poverty. While all parties address these issues in their election promises, it is widely believed that the results in the 2023 elections will be determined by women.
The basis of the promises made in the election manifesto of the CHP is to combat violence against women, to eliminate the inequality between men and women in the public and private sectors. In this context, the first concrete step of the CHP, which has built its discourse on ‘equality and justice’, will be to re-enforce the Istanbul Convention, which was terminated by the President’s decision, and to emphasise the implementation of the provisions and sanctions of the convention. According to the CHP, one of the most important problems besides violence against women is the employment of women. Drawing attention to the inadequacy of women’s representation in many fields such as politics and the judiciary in Turkey, the CHP proposes a quota for women, especially in the private sector.
The IYI Party, which is the only party with a female leader, builds its electoral work mainly on women’s policies. Emphasising “social welfare” with the participation of women in politics in greater numbers, the IYI Party is working on a system that will ensure the active participation of women in politics in all regions, provinces and districts of Turkey. Within the scope of these studies, women-oriented regional coordination will be established and studies will be carried out under the responsibility of a woman in every 5 provinces. It is aimed that these efforts will mobilise at least 100 thousand women in the field during the election process.
The DEVA Party’s women’s discourse is also based on common problems with other parties. At the party, where the elimination of violence against women and women’s poverty is the primary goal, ensuring gender equality and increasing women’s employment in the public and private sectors are among the priority promises for women.
Underlining that as DEVA Party, they will establish mechanisms that will strengthen women in every field and make them effective socially and economically, Women’s Policies Chair Elif Esen stated that short, medium and long-term policies will be produced in the field of education and law, primarily to prevent women from being subjected to violence and to end femicides.
The Future Party also bases its women’s policy on preventing violence against women and increasing women’s employment. The party, which prioritizes preventing the inequality between men and women, emphasizes that violence and abuse against women and children is above parties and that it is necessary to act with a common consensus. In this context, Habibe Çiftçioğlu, President of the Women’s Policies of the Future Party, stated “short, medium and long-term plans should be implemented in violence against women. There should be no “reduction” in the cases of murders of women and the heaviest punishment should be given. We shape our work on these issues”.
While the Democratic Party is going to the 2023 elections, it will go to a staff change in the general presidency of the women’s branches. In this process, it is aimed to strengthen and expand the presidency of women’s branches, while increasing the presence of women in provincial and district organizations.
Underlining that they will go to the elections with a strong female presence, Head of Women’s and Youth Affairs Murat Aydoğdu said, “We aim to increase the presence of women in the party and make the new staff work actively in the field. In other words, in a sense, we will form an army of ‘democratic women’ in the electoral process. We are aware that women voters will determine the fate of the election. That is why we will be on the field with all our staff during this process.”
Felicity Party, on the other hand, will build its women’s policies on the way to the elections on the basis of the ideal of “just state, humane life”, as in the previous election. At this point, projects that will protect the rights as individuals will also be produced in the works that will emphasize the family and society together with women and men. The primary promise of the party will be the establishment of a system that will not only prevent violence against women, but also improve the working conditions of women who are present in business life, and provide rights to non-working women.
The Felicity Party, unlike the other six-table parties, opposes the Istanbul Convention. Nurgül Beytiye Ekinci, Head of the Women’s Branch of the party explained the reason for this as follows: “I think that all international agreements to be made for the society should be put into effect by taking into account the structure, religious beliefs, traditions and customs of that country. We have said no to the Istanbul Convention from the very beginning, and we will say no from now on.”
This article has been abridged from its version in Turkish. To access the article in its original language click here