The Association Supporating Women Candidates (KA.DER) sent a letter to political party representatives ahead of the local elections scheduled for March, requesting attention to gender balance when selecting candidates.
In KA.DER's statement, it was argued that Turkey has been experiencing the masculine nature of politics for years, and the main reason for this is the insufficient representation of women. Recent general elections and subsequent congresses and conventions held by many parties were cited as examples.
"When women gained the right to vote for the first time in the General Elections on February 8, 1935, only 18 female deputies were able to be represented in the parliament consisting of 444 deputies. Today, after all the achievements, should we be pleased that 119 out of 600 members of the parliament, reaching the 'highest' number in the history of the Republic, are women? Of course not," the statement states, emphasizing that some provinces have never had a female representative in parliament until now.
The association's statement, recalling that Turkey was ranked second in the world in terms of women's representation in 1935, raised the question: "Shouldn't we be saddened and concerned that Turkey, with a rate of 17.4% according to the 2023 data of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, is ranked 131st in the world?"
Local elections
In KA.DER's statement, it was noted that in the 19 local elections held in the 100-year history of the Republic, where mayors were elected, out of more than 32,000 elected mayors, there were only 150 female mayors. Therefore, it was emphasized that the country is far from witnessing equal representation for women in local elections as well.
According to the association's statement, another example of unequal representation is the number of female village headpersons (muhtar). Accordingly, the proportion of female muhtars in the 2019 local elections is the same as in 1930; this rate is 2.14%, and there are no female muhtars in four provinces (Bitlis, Muş, Sinop, and Şanlıurfa).
In its statement, the association addressed the party representatives, urging them to give a chance to women who apply to the political parties for candidacy at various levels in local elections, not just because they are women but because they are truly qualified and can contribute to achieving equality. It emphasized that this could pave the way for change and transformation in the country. (EMK/PE)
