The latest issue of TÜSİAD’s publication “Görüş” covers the subject of women’s participation in politics. Under the cover page banner “MORE WOMEN – BETTER POLITICS”, the publication casts an eye over the candidate lists announced in the run up to the General Election, stressing that the increase in women’s representation is positive but insufficient. Director of Ankara University Women’s Research Center Serpil Sancar writes on the problems inherent in the defense of women’s rights being left outside Parliament even in spite of the prospective increase in the number of women Members of Parliament. Association for the Support and Training of Women Candidates (KA.DER) President Fatma Çiğdem Aydın, who has been running a campaign for greater numbers of women to enter Parliament in these elections, discusses the fact that the rate of women’s participation in politics is still far too low. Explaining that the demand for equal parliamentary representation is still a long way off, Emel Armutçu from the Right Women Platform stresses the justification for campaigns being conducted towards that end. This issue also publishes the results of the KONDA opinion research company’s survey on society’s values with respect to the status of women and their participation in politics in Turkey. In her article in “Görüş”, Istanbul Culture University lecturer Nazlı Çağın Bilgili examines the relation between women’s political representation and raising the standards of democracy.
In her article headlined “We have expectations from women Members of Parliament”, TÜSİAD President Ümit Boyner considers the significance of greater women’s participation in politics and the economy from the perspective of achieving more balanced and sustainable policies. Stressing that the trend towards higher rates of women’s representation in Parliament is positive but insufficient, Boyner indicates that the equal representation target is far from being met. Expectations of the new Parliament are high, writes Boyner, and the presence of the expected 20% rate of women Members of Parliament needs to be effectively felt, with women taking a place in the management of Parliamentary Party groups and in all Parliamentary Commissions without exception. “Our expectation is that all policies will be considered from the viewpoint of social gender equality, that is, women Members of Parliament should be at the forefront of advocating the “mainstreaming” of this issue. The transformation in women’s participation that we desire can only succeed when there is a Parliament that is conscious of social gender equality, and when this is implemented in all policies”, states Ümit Boyner.
The new issue of “Görüş” also contains interviews with two figures visiting Turkey for TÜSİAD’s 40th Anniversary - the former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzales, and former Defense Minister Narcis Serra, one of the leading actors in Spain’s transition period from dictatorship to democracy. The interviews cover the subjects of Turkey-EU relations and democratization of the army.
The uprisings in the Arab countries are examined in the publication’s new issue. The quest for reform in the Arab world, Turkey’s role, and backstage influences on the rebellions are analyzed within this framework. “Görüş” also covers the economic policies of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in the context of the political parties’ pre-election manifestoes.
