SESSION OF WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2001

Turkey

Karamanou (PSE), Rapporteur of the opinion of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. – Mr. President, as the drafter of the opinion of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, I would like to highlight the issues concerning women’s rights in Turkey, which have not been sufficiently addressed by the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Allow me, therefore, to point out that very little progress has been made regarding women’s rights in Turkey, rights that we as a committee consider to be a prerequisite for Turkey’s accession to the European Union, as women’s rights are human rights.

I have been informed that a discussion has begun today in the Turkish Grand National Assembly regarding the revision of the Civil Code, many articles of which violate the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which Turkey has ratified. I express the hope that the parliament will vote for the bill, as decided by the Justice Committee in June.

However, there is the critical question of whether the law will apply to existing families, because, unfortunately, a last-minute amendment was submitted in the Justice Committee that exempts already existing families. This is completely unacceptable, meaning that changes to the Civil Code would only apply to future generations, and I know that women’s organizations in Turkey have also expressed their full opposition to this.

The national program for accession to the European Union talks about amending the Constitution to ensure gender equality; however, it does not provide for the adoption of positive measures at all, which, as women’s organizations point out, would allow for changes to all laws that institutionalize discrimination against women.

Regarding women’s right to work, I point out the high unemployment rates among women, which reach 39.6%, a figure that is exacerbated in rural areas, while at the same time, the number of women who have access to social security is limited.

I would like to urge Turkey to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and, of course, to ask the Commission to ensure the necessary financial and technical support to make this a reality.