According to the Istanbul Union of Women's Institutions (IKKB) and the Women's Rights Commission of the Istanbul Bar, the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration discriminated against women by employing 75 men geology engineers, and only five women for the same post. In a statement the women's groups said they would support any legal procedure by the Chamber of Geology Engineers to clear away this inequality.

The two women's groups argued in the statement that the general directorate's employment practice violated article 10 on "equality" of the Constitution, and article 5 on "equal treatment" of the Labor Law. Turkey has signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and thus promised to remove all discrimination against women in implementation and regulations, reminded the statement.

How will women defend their rights?

According to the statement by the IKKB and the Women's Rights Commission of the Istanbul Bar, women should do the following to defend their rights:

"Women should first apply for the job. If they get rejected, they should ask that the rejection is put into writing. They should demand that the rejection decision is cancelled because it is against the ban on discrimination."

"If they cannot reach a positive outcome through internal legal procedures, they could individually apply to the United Nations Women's Status Committee because Turkey has ratified the additional protocol on monitoring implementations that violate CEDAW."

"They had removed implementation last year"

The women's groups said that job advertisements for posts at some public offices last year, were discriminatory. This discrimination was cleared through the efforts of women, the statement said:

* In December 2003, a job advertisement, published on the Web site of OSYM, announced openings at the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSI) and the General Directorate of the Agricultural Products Office (TMO) for construction engineers, computer engineers and accountants. It said candidates would have to pass an examination.

* Among conditions of application was the requirement "to be male."

* This condition was against article 10 of the Constitution, article 5 of the Labor Law, and article 11/b of CEDAW on "equal selection criteria for employment."

* In order to help them defend their rights, we asked women to apply for the job, to ask for a written explanation if rejected, and to demand that the rejection decision is canceled because it is against the ban on discrimination.

* The job posting, which violated the constitution, labor law and CEDAW was later changed due to criticisms and the condition of "being male" was removed.

What does the Constitution and the Labor Law say?

Article 10 of the Constitution and article 5 of the Labor Law states that:

* Article 10 of Constitution: Women and men have the same rights. The state is responsible for implementing equality between men and women.

* Article 5/3 of the Labor Law: The principle for equal treatment: The employer, in making a labor contract and setting, applying and ending its conditions, may not treat employees differently due to their sexuality or pregnancy, unless biological reasons or reasons related to the job's characteristic require so. (BB/EU/EA/YE)