Women’s Coalition: Only 652 of 8,263 Mayor Candidates are Women

İlknur Üstün from the Women’s Coalition platform has stated that local administrations are shaped through the struggles of male governments.

Evrim Kepenek

Women’s Coalition: Only 652 of 8,263 Mayor Candidates are Women

Click to read the article in Turkish

"We are, once again, witnessing that women and issues concerning women are being disregarded in local elections. Neither women and their problems nor solution offers for them are included in the agendas of political parties."

These remarks have been uttered by İlknur Üstün from the Women's Coalition platform. Ahead of local elections on March 31, Üstün has been doing research on representation of women in politics.

"Women candidates lead in HDP's official applications"

Speaking about their work on forthcoming local elections, Üstün states that they have used the lists sent by the Supreme Election Council (YSK) and political parties in preparing their data.

Indicating that the mayor candidates of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) were added to their lists through official applications, Üstün remarks that women have come to the fore in terms of the number of official applications made by the HDP due to their co-mayorship system.

The coalition has also analyzed the election bylaws in terms of women's representation, which will be announced in the forthcoming days.

"No women nominated in Artvin and Osmaniye"

Releasing an informative document regarding the number of women nominated as mayor candidates in March 31 local elections, the Women's Coalition has emphasized that "these tables are the first indication of the gender inequality in municipal administrations."

According to the statement released by the coalition, 652 women in total have been nominated as mayor candidates across Turkey so far.

There are no women candidates in the provinces of Artvin and Osmaniye. There are no women candidates in 26 of 51 central municipalities. There also no women candidates in 4 of 403 district municipalities. In 19 of 386 town municipalities, there are also no women candidates.

The following information has been shared by the coalition:

Distribution of 652 women candidates nominated by provinces:

No women candidates in any of the districts of Artvin and Osmaniye!
There are no women candidates in 26 of 51 central municipalities!
There are no women candidates in 4 of 403 district municipalities!
There are no women candidates in 19 of 386 town municipalities!

Only 652 of 8,263 candidates are women!
7.89 %

(EMK/SD)

Origin

BIA News Desk

Evrim Kepenek

@kepenekevrimm

[email protected]

all articles of the author

Editor of Bianet’s women and LGBTI+ news section (Oct 2018–Feb 2025). Previously worked as a Bianet intern between 2000 and 2001. Reported for Cumhuriyet, BirGün,...

Editor of Bianet’s women and LGBTI+ news section (Oct 2018–Feb 2025). Previously worked as a Bianet intern between 2000 and 2001. Reported for Cumhuriyet, BirGün, DİHA, Jinha, Jin News, and İMC TV. Also worked for local newspapers in Rize. Her articles and news reports have been published in Sivil Sayfalar, Yeşil Gazete, Journo, and various industry magazines. She is one of the founding writers of GOR, a magazine focused on Hemşin culture.

She contributed to several books, including Portraits of Women from the Black Sea: From Green to Blue, The Basket on Her Back, and Media and Lies. Winner of the Musa Anter Journalism Award (2011) and the Turkish Psychiatric Association’s Best News Award (2024).

A founding member of the Turkish Journalists’ Union’s Women and LGBTI+ Commission, she currently serves as a board member of the union’s İstanbul Branch (2023–2027).

She holds degrees in European Union studies from İstanbul University and international relations from Bilgi University. She organizes workshops on gender-sensitive journalism and reporting on gender-based violence. Since Feb 2025, she has been working as a women's news editor.