Women to women: Join forces, make a difference
Saturday, April 12, 2008
FULYA ÖZERKAN
ANKARA – Turkish Daily News
Women's associations Friday welcomed legal proceedings to set up an equal opportunities commission in Parliament and urged the female deputies of the ruling and opposition parties to join forces against gender discrimination.
"The formation of a commission specializing in women's affairs has been on the agenda of female movements for years. We would only welcome this," said Şenal Sarıhan, chairwoman of the Republican Women's Association.
Seventeen female deputies from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by the state minister responsible for women's affairs, Nimet Çubukçu, submitted a proposal last week to enact a law that will establish an equal opportunities commission in Parliament.
"A women's commission is a must in Turkey. Fifty women deputies in Parliament must make a difference to ensure gender equality without delay," said Hülya Gülbahar, chairwoman of the Women's Association (KA-DER).
Turkey is lacking a national mechanism to safeguard equality between men and women, unlike many other countries. Turkish-born Dutch politician Emine Bozkurt has long called for a specialized commission for women in the Turkish Parliament. Bozkurt, author of a European Parliament report on the role of women in Turkey, repeatedly urged the Turkish government to place number one priority on women's issues. She was not immediately available for further comments on Friday.
According to the current proposal, the commission will have 25 members, who will be elected in accordance with their experience on gender equality. Commission members will be charged with monitoring the compliance of legal proposals and projects with Turkey's domestic regulations and international legislation on gender equality.
Good morning after supper, says CHP
The female deputies of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) shunned the AKP lawmakers' initiative as "delayed" and a "deathbed confession."
The CHP came up with such a proposal first, said the party's deputies.
"Had the AKP deputies been aware of this, they wouldn't have submitted such a proposal. There is a U.S. saying that goes 'Good morning after supper,'" said CHP Istanbul deputy Birgen Keleş.
Women's associations admitted that the AKP proposal was nothing new, but argued that the women's issue must be tackled as supra-party policy.
"We see the AKP move as a significant development, but all the women in Parliament must join forces and pursue a supra-party policy on this issue," said KA-DER's Gülbahar.
For her part, Sarıhan said the establishment of an equal opportunities commission was important in its own right, but the healthy functioning of such a mechanism was more than important.
"The AKP deputies must cooperate with the opposition," she said, raising concerns over the AKP government's sincerity over women-related reforms. Sarıhan said the government's move in this area was only for show, as evidenced by the recent tension caused by the ruling party's attempts to ease the headscarf ban in state universities.
© 2005 Dogan Daily News Inc. www.turkishdailynews.com.tr
Have you visited We are the Turks lately?
Sema Karaoglu, Founder Meltem Birkegren, Director
www.DofA.org
www.wearetheturks.org
Daughters of Atatürk is proud to promote Turkish Heritage across the globe. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk shaped the legacy we proudly inherited.
His integrity and dynamism and vision constantly inspires us. We are thankful to him for walking the untrodden path, achieving the unimaginable dream, living the eternal vision. We are the Turks, we are the future of Turkey.
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder