Preface

The opening Speech addressed by the State Minister, Mme, Isilay Saygin, at the Sixteenth Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

Introductory Statement by Dr. Yakin Erturk at the Sixteenth Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

Report of the pre-session working group of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

Replies of the Turkish Delegation to the questions of the Pre-session Working Group of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

Closing Statement

Consideration of Turkish Combined 2nd and 3rd Periodic Reports by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

The List of the Turkish Delegation to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

PREFACE

At the threshold of the 21^st Century, it has become evident that the four UN World Conferences on Women have demonstrated that women's issues are universally recognized and will remain on the international agenda until effective and workable solutions are reached. Turkey, a country where the national efforts to accords equal rights to women with men have remained as one of the main items of development agenda since its foundation as a republic by M.K. Attaturk, fully recognizes and follows all international documents on equality of gender with commitment and in this connection has been a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1985.

The ratification of the Convention by Turkey has been a significant step taken for the equality of women and men. Reinforcing this step and ensuring that the convention is fully implemented in Turkey has been one of the priority issues of the Ministry for Women's Affairs and Family and therefore of the Turkish Government. As I have indicated in my address to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), we are making every effort to withdraw the reservations Turkey placed on the Convention by the year 2000 and therefore before the fourth periodic country report is submitted to CEDAW.

The second and third periodic report of Turkey was appreciated by the members of CEDAW for its frankness and honest review of Turkey's position and gains that have been made both de facto and de jure since its last report. The honest approach displayed in the preparation of the report is extremely important in setting the targets to be reached and national strategies to be followed for achieving gender equality in Turkey.

In spite of all the achievements accomplished for the advancement of women in Turkey, we are fully aware that we still have a long way to go in ensuring equal participation of women and men in development especially in the field of education, health and employment. I am confident that with the close cooperation of the state ministry for Women's Affairs and Family that I am in charge of, Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women, the women and members of the parliament, Women's NGOs in particular, and men, the ongoing efforts for gender mainstreaming will successfully be realized, in all walks of life, by bringing together the voices and visions of women and men together.

The combined second and third periodic report was prepared with a vast participation of academicians, representatives of public institutions and organizations, trade unions, political parties and the Turkish delegation to CEDAW.

I would like to extend my thanks to all who contributed and to the members of the Turkish delegation who successfully introduced the report and meticulously prepared the replies to CEDAW.

My special thanks go to the Directorate General on the Status and problems of Women for their relentless efforts to coordinate the process for the preparation of the report.

I am particularly honored to introduce this book to a wide readership and I hope that the insights provided by this publication will further enhance the ongoing national debate on new approaches to institutionalize gender equality in Turkey.

ISILAY SAYGIN

State Minister

for Women's Affairs and Family

Madam Chairperson,

At the outset I would like to congratulate you on your election to the chair of this distinguished Committee. I am confident that under your wise and able guidance, deliberations of the committee will be most successful and effectively contribute to the betterment of the status of women in the world. I would also like to congratulate the other members of the bureau.

I wish to express our gratitude to the out going Chairperson of the Committee Ms. Ivanka Corti, it is very well organized that her leadership skills, devotion and relentless efforts contributed to the rights of the women in general and to the work of the Committee in particular especially in the difficult times of the United Nations.

Madam Chairperson,

Distinguished members of the Committee,

It is a privilege and honor for me to address such a distinguished group on behalf of Turkish Government. I am one of the four women in the Turkish Cabinet, and I am responsible form Women's Affairs and Family.

Turkish Government appreciates and supports all the efforts of the United Nations in setting the international agenda for the advancement of women and standards on women's rights. We recognize the leading role played by the United Nations in eliminating the prejudices against women. In this regard, we consider the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as a critical effort to enhance the status of women worldwide. Turkey devotes great importance to its full implementation. In this connection, the sixteenth session of this Committee which is going to consider our combined second and third reports will be very beneficial for the Turkish women.

Effort within the United Nations bodies towards the empowerment of women have always inspired the Turkish women and I am sure that the achievements of the Turkish women in this regard will also be an inspiration to other women in the other parts of the world. Let me be briefly mention that the Turkish women are among the first women in the world to achieve the right to vote and to be elected.

We have adopted the Beijing Platform of Action without any reservations. We take it as our guide in our activities.

As a major follow-up to Beijing, we have already formulated our National Plan of Action encompassing the twelve critical area of concern. We are now in the process of strengthening the national mechanism on women's affairs by upgrading the General Directorate to the level of Under Secretariat. We are also determined to realize our commitments set forth in Beijing and working in co-operation with women's NGOs in this direction.

Accordingly, full implementation of CEDAW is also in the agenda of the Turkish Government.

It is our hope to present our next periodic report as one of the State parties to the Convention that has no reservations.

Madam Chairperson,

Please allow me to introduce Prof. Dr. Yakin Ertuk, a prominent Professor of Sociology, who will present our periodic report to the Committee.

Thank you.

Madame Chairperson, distinguished members of CEDAW,

It gives me great pleasure and honor to address you, on behalf of the Turkish Delegation. We are in full appreciation of the invaluable role the Committee is playing in promoting the human rights of women all over the world. We women have come a long way, but this does not make your task any easier because we still have a long way to go.

1. As the 20^th century come to an end, it has become evident that we are not only entering a new century but also a new world order dominated by global rather than national standards and institutions. While these trends offer new hopes for the spread of greater liberty, justice and democracy, the possibilities for growing conflict and inequalities between countries, regions, ethnic groups and between men and women, appear to be equally strong. The passage from the "cold war" era holds contradictory outcomes for the world community as "hot peace" increasingly rests on cultural fragmentation, antagonisms, and continuous conflict all over the world. Paradoxically, the signs of threat, on the hopes we have vested in creating a world of equality, development and peace, where the status of women would be enhances, are too revealing with the coming of "global society".
2. UNDP Human Resource Development Report clearly indicates the growing gap among members of the world community. While, economic polarization becomes more pronounced, the emergence of new modes of struggle, based on micro - nationalism, religious fundamentalism, ethnic cleansing, racism and the like, are becoming more and more legitimized. The 20^th century value of equality, citizenship and welfare have related to the welcomed recognition of cultural pluralism - i.e. diversity rather than uniformity. However, what often escapes the eye is the potential danger in becoming blind to the fine line distinguishing respect for culture versus respect for human rights of the individual. This is probably a most critical paradox confronting women's rights advocates as the process of globalization becomes more common. One of the outstanding slogans during the NGO Forum in Houiro was "human rights have no cultural boundaries" . Women's sensitivity in this regard can not be over emphasized, since we know all two well that culture, religion, tradition and custom are often "gender biased" and are produced as they manifest themselves through control over women's bodies and lives.
3. On the other hand, states and their wide ranging institutions, which during the age of modernity, have monopolized the "legitimate" authority and power over the lives of their citizens, have not been free of their inadequacies and contradictions. Nonetheless, it is the historic moment of creation of 'state of law' that has made the quest for gender equality a real possibility. Women, who have historically been excluded from constructing the meaning of universality and the right to exist independent of her collective-patriarchal affiliation, has at last caught a new opportunity with the emergence of the concept of equal citizenship in a 'state of law'. Therefore, national mechanisms-regardless of their levels of inadequacies-and the notion of equal citizenship rights, continue to provide us with the most workable and accountable framework in which to proceed with the struggle for gender equality.
4. Turkey, a country of nearly 70 million people, represents an interesting case where the contradictions of globalization, modernization and traditionalism seem to interplay when it comes to determining the status of women in society. First and foremost, it is the only secular country with a predominately Muslim population. Within Muslim world, Turkey remains as the only society where the state has abandoned the Sharia, as such, women's position before the law is the most egalitarian among Muslim countries. Thus women's status in Turkey is a complex issue with not one but many faces, images and roles. On the one hand, we are pleased to see that women are visible in some of the most critical positions in the government today, on the other hand, we are disillusioned with the persisting disparities between men and women as well as between different women's groups with regard to access to vital development resources such as education, health and employment. Provision of literacy and education for girls has particularly lagged behind desired levels. Women still suffer from poor health and high risk of maternal deaths. For the majority of women wage work is elusive as most are invisible, unpaid family worker or do work which is not acknowledged.
5. However, despite the obvious inadequacies on gender equality, much have been accomplished. The true dimensions of the progress made in Turkey is this regard and the nature of the existing obstacles for future progress can not be fully appreciated without an understanding of the inherent contradictions involved in the transformation from a multi-ethnic/ religious empire to a secular nation state. Furthermore, wide range of constraints of underdevelopment and the pressure of structural adjustment policies, add further to the complexities. Modern Turkey emerged out of a historical heritage embodying diverse cultural patterns and groups. While such social and cultural diversity is the source of the societal enrichment it, nevertheless, is not free of tensions and contradictions. Particularly with the new trends of globalization, some of these diversities have become a major source of conflict and competition over determining the basis character of the society. Two trends are of particular relevance: religious fundamentalism and claims based on ethnic rivalry.
6. Various political movements associated with such discourses have been quite keen on recruiting women into their domain and, as such, have offered new space for the active participation of their female follower. Within this context women have been encouraged to become involved in non-conventional activities. Not always, however, to their advantage. PKK in its armed struggle against the system has heavily militarized women in their ranks. 1996 will be remembered for the unfortunate incidents of suicide missions staged by the PKK where young girls were used to carry out the act. The radical religious sects have also been using women to their end. Most striking is the recent case of young veiled women who was persuaded into a sexual relationship with a fugitive leader of an outlawed sect. The young women’s story captured the attention of the media after she was caught with the sect leader in a police raid. While the sect leader argued that she is his third and legitimate wife under Islamic law, her reaction was revealing of the tragic side of the story. The victim and her family made public declarations and complained of the misuse of religion by some groups in coercing into temporary “marriages”. She has now taken her grievances to court. Although these are extreme cases, the general long-term prospects such ideologies are less than promising in term of women’s status. The inherently totalitarian nature of these political movements leaves little room for women to adopt an identity outside the boundaries set by pre-determined sexist-patriarchal values.
7. Nevertheless, despite such risks, the very fact of inclusion and diversification of women images in civil society, enable women to develop new strategies for increasing self-control over their own lives. Since the 1980s, growing intensification of feminist as well as other women’s movements, research and project implementation activities of governmental and non-governmental organizations and policy making with regard to women'’ issues, is quite meaningful. There is, no doubt, a gender sensitive agenda developing in Turkey. Consequently women have become visible and they have been expanding the space in which they can act on their own initiative and speak their mind. It would not be an over-exaggeration to say that one of the most significant developments of the past decade is that the strategies developed by various women’s groups to expand their own space have gained social impetus. These strategies are especially significant for the empowerment of women as individuals, for creating gender sensitive public opinion and for putting demands on state institutions to respond with greater commitment to women’s issues. It is our firm belief that, the creation and sustainance of the social environment, in our country, which enables the continual expression of diverse demands of diverse women’s groups-be it the feminist, the nationalist, or the Islamists is dependent upon the preservation of the secular social order in Turkey.
8. Responding to diverse pressures and demands, while at the same time enhancing the basis citizenship rights of women in Turkey, seems to be the most arduous but urgent task before individual women, NGO’s and most importantly the government of Turkey. It is within such a perspective that the Turkish report needs to be read and evaluated. The report is the product of contributions made by women representing different professions and organizations. Therefore, it reflects the views of women “themselves” rather than that of a state institution. The Directorate General on the Status and problems of Women (DGSPW) as the organizing body, has for long relied on such participatory methods in generating documents that claim to reflect the status of women on Turkey. With this presentation, we hope to provide a more analytical overview of the status of women in Turkey to complement the detailed information contained in our report.

9. One of the main elements of a comprehensive and integrated approach combating gender inequality is a supportive legislative framework, efficient enforcement mechanisms, and legal literacy. Inequality is simply unfair. Turkey tries to promote equality of rights by committing itself to various global and regional standards. Equality of the sexes has been given constitutional and statutory recognition. Article 10 of the Turkish Constitution regulates equality before the law: All individuals are equal without discrimination before the law, irrespective of language, race, color, sex, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion and sect, or any such considerations. No privilege shall be granted to any individual, family, group or class. State organs and administrative authorities shall act in compliance with the principle of equality before the law in all their proceedings.
10. An egalitarian treatment of women, within a legal framework was achieved through the adoption of the Swiss Civil Code. Some of the provisions of the Civil Code on women’s issues, which were regarded to be progressive in the early 1900s, have been proven to be insufficient for society today. New considerations and achievements in the legal systems to improve the status of women.
11. A commission formed of professors of civil law has been authorized by the Ministry of Justice for the preparation of a draft law with consideration of the international treaties of which Turkey is a party and amendments made in the family laws in European countries, mainly in Switzerland. This Commission will complete a draft law to be submitted to the approval of the Grand National Assembly, the legislative organ in Turkey. A gender equality based legislation shall give the unique advantage in terms of being able to assess and contribute to the attainment of real equality of opportunity and treatment.
12. Since 1980s, the women’s movement has been making intensive demands for the modification of the discriminatory clauses of the Turkish Criminal Code and the underlying understanding which treats crimes against women in the context of “Crimes Against Public Decency and Family Order”. As a result of the public consensus that was generated through intensive campaigns, Article 438 of Turkish Criminal Law, which provided for a reduced sentence to a rapist, if the injured women was proven to be prostitute, has been repealed in 1990. The same year, one of the discriminatory articles of the Turkish Civil Code (article 159), granting the husband the right of control over the wife’s professional or artistic activities has been annulled by the Constitution Court.
13. For the first time, the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (1985-90) accepted women’s issues as an independent area of concern for policy and planning. Gender issues became integral parts of the 6^th and 7^th Five-Year Development Plans that followed. Recognition of women’s issues as a matter of governmental policy, laid the ground for the establishment of DGSPW as a national mechanism in 1990. The DGSPW was first founded under the Ministry of Labor as is the case in many countries, with the objective of providing women with equality in social, economic, cultural and political spheres of life. On June 24, 1991, under the mandate of a State Ministry, DGSPW was attached directly to the Prime Ministry. Although the directorate works with limited funds and limited staff it has been invaluable in setting women’s agenda in the public sector, supporting training and research, acting as a coordinating body for other governmental institutions and networking with NGO’s. The directorate was active in the establishment of a department of Statistics on Social Structure and Women within State Institute of Statistics. The objective of this department is to generate the much needed disaggregated data by sex.
14. Turkey has participated in all major international conferences dealing with women’s issues. We mention with pride that she was one of the sponsors of the historic Beijing Express on route to the Forth World Conference on women to which Turkey participated with an all women’s delegation. The Platform for Action, adopted on Beijing, was accepted by the Turkish government without any reservations. In conjunction with the convergence of government policy and the international call for cooperation among countries both at regional and global levels, two conferences for the cooperation of Eurasian women were held in Turkey, before (1995) and after (1996) the Beijing conference.
15. In order to give priority of opportunity to disadvantaged women in different spheres of life, some special measures have been introduced. For example, in 1993 special credit programs for women were initiated by the Turkish People’s Bank and Turkish Bank of Foundations. The basic objective of these initiatives is to ensure active participation of women in development by encouraging them for entrepreneurial activities through access to credit. The Housing Development Administration has also adopted a gender sensitive approach by defining women as a special category to be considered for quotas in providing public housing under easy terms of payment.
16. Such measures need to be increased so that greater numbers of disadvantaged women’s groups can be reached. Progress in these areas can be feasible through availability of resources and determination to achieve equality. However, what remains to be a real challenge is the persistence of physical violence against women in private domain. Such incidents hold a high priority on the agenda of activists and women’s NGOs. Aside form anti-violence advocacy, the women’s organizations have provided services on counseling, legal representation and shelter to battered women. On the other had, although the government institutions have shown concern and willingness to create public sensitivity, adopt efficient methods of handling cases of abuse and to eventually eradicate systematic violence against women, they have been by and large ineffective in their response thus far. The lack of effective legislation to protect battered women has undermined the efforts in this direction. Supportive legal provisions, however, are underway. There is an attempt to amend Article 478 of the Turkish Criminal Law to enable legal intervention to cases of domestic violence without the formal complaint of the injured party. Minister of Interior. In responding to the demands made by women’s organizations, sent a written communiqué on November 15, 1996 to all security forces cautioning them to be extra receptive and attentive to cases of violence against women occurring inside or outside home.
17. In Turkey, like in many contemporary societies, the mass media is believed to have an important influence in the modification and shaping of judgments on gender. Bearing in mind article 234 of the Beijing Platform for Action, the potential exists for the media to make a far greater contribution to the advancement of women.
18. Due to insufficient gender sensitivity, differences of women’s experiences, ideas, expressions (and needs) have been reflected only within a restricted framework in the media. However, the increase in the number of female and professionals in media organizations, in the recent years, has increased the opportunity for the penetration of women’s voice into the field of broadcasting and written media.
19. In order to change the projection of negative and degrading images of women in the media, DGSPW within the framework of the UNDP-government of Turkey (GOT) joint project, supported research on all aspects of women and the media. This initiative, which is in line with article 239b of Platform for Action, aims to integrate a gender perspective to the mass media and consequently raise public consciousness.
20. Education material used in schools continues to carry some of the values of traditional gender relations. The visual and written messages reflect the role of women and “wives” and “mothers”. However, the outcome of the 15^th National Education Council meeting, held in Ankara in 1996, emphasized the importance of eliminating gender-based prejudices and role stereotyping of women and men from educational programs, books and messages. The Council, in its document, clearly committed itself to develop curricula, adopt textbooks and teaching aids free of sex-based stereotypes for all levels of education including teacher training.

21. The Turkish Republic and her women have long prided themselves because suffrage was granted to many women by 1934, rather early compared to many countries in Europe as well as Middle East. However, except for the decade following the granting of suffrage, when women were de facto “appointed” to the parliament and their numbers made up about 3 to 4% of the assembly, there were very few women MPs, usually less than two percent of the whole.
22. Despite significant changes in women’s consciousness especially since the 1980s, women’s numbers in the parliament have been resilient to change. Obstacles to women’s egalitarian representation have been elaborated in our report and they are not significantly different from those in other contexts. We deplore the situation and the fact that not much has been done to effectively increase women’s representation in the parliament. Presently, there are efforts by women’s groups to devise strategies to increase women’s representation in the parliament.
23. However, women’s numbers in the parliament should not lead us to ignore some change in women’s formal political participation. In the context of the emergence and strengthening of feminist activism in the 180s and early 1990s, which is itself striking, there has been some unprecedented developments regarding women’s political participation:
24. In 1989, Social Democratic People’s Party (SHP) introduced a quota whereby in the provincial and district councils and top level administrative organs of the party, a minimum 25% representation of either men or women would be guaranteed. DYP (True Path Party) has also adopted a 10% quota system in 1996.
25. In the 1991 General Elections, women’s issues became a visible item in the campaigns and party programs of all the major parties, for the first time in Turkish elections. Political Parties recognized that they could have a female constituency which had interests and could vote independent of men. The center right Motherland Party (ANAP) which had been in power since the 1983 elections when it took power from the military, made women’s issues one of the seven principles which would structure the party campaign. ANAP chairman announced that they would implement CEDAW, a striking promise, especially considering the women’s movement in Turkey had made its first collective public appearance in protest against the government’s neglect of the Convention.
26. More unexpectedly, the religious Welfare Party also recognized the need to address the secular female electorate to increase its electoral strength. They underplayed religious rhetoric to respond to the secular, mundane concerns of women from different strata, using concepts like “women’s exploitation” and domestic violence against women”, during their election campaign.
27. After the 1991 elections, the SHP and DYP coalition government that was formed instituted a ministry of State responsible for women’s affairs, family and social services and appointed a women minister. To its credit, the ministry which was under the responsibility of SHP, allowed feminist activists and academicians to permeate its ranks and bridge the gap between state and the feminists.
28. In 1993, a women, Tansu Ciller, became the Prime Minister for the first time in Turkey and served till June 1996. Despite her limited engagement in women’s issues when she was in office, she was a role model of a female politician with clout. In the 1995 elections, her campaign which highlighted a female constituency helped bring women’s vote info forefront of political discourse.
29. Presently, there are four women minister in the cabinet, one Deputy Prime Minister and minister of Foreign Affairs, another Minister of Interior, and two Minister of State, one responsible for the treasury and the other women’s affairs.
30. A most significant development, the consequences of which is difficult to assess, is the role women played in the electoral campaign and the ensuing success of the religious Welfare Party. There was an unprecedental mobilization of women campaigners and women’s vote in the Refah restrictive ideological parameters of the prevailing Islamic discourse, there is concern that women thus mobilized remain victims to a patriarchal ideology legitimized with a religious benediction.

31. Gender equality, in the sphere of education, is far from being realized. Primary school education is defined by the National Educational Law (no.1739) as compulsory for every citizen of the Republic and is provided free in all public schools. One of the immediate issues on Turkey’s agenda with regards to education today is to increase compulsory education from five years to eight years. Although this could contribute significantly to the attainment of qualitatively and quantitatively better educated population, it may not necessarily solve the problem of gender inequality. The most obvious indicator in gender inequality is the disparity in the rates of literacy. Despite a significant drop in the rates of illiteracy for women, in the last decade, one third of Turkish women are still illiterate. This disparity is even more striking when rural, urban differences are considered. The Turkish Government has committed itself, during the Beijing conference, to achieve full literacy for its female population by the year 2000.
32. The schooling rates for boys and girls in the compulsory primary school level are similar. However, in secondary and higher education institutions, the number of female students drops sharply. Gender inequality in education increases parallel to the level of schooling. There are significant regional disparities in school attendance and completion of any given level of education. The difference between the levels of education of men and women is the greatest in the less developed regions of the country. Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia where economic limitations and traditional values act as a constraint on the education of women, the situation is further frustrated by the on going armed conflicts. In the past decade, many schools have been shut down for security reasons and the students have had to attend schools in the vicinity or more distant locations. Female students are directly affected by this situation because of the cultural restrictions on their physical mobility.
33. In a country such as Turkey, where the majority of the population is Muslim and patriarchal values dominate social relationships, gender equality has, more or less, prevailed as a result of secular education. In the past years, however, religiously based vocational-secondary school education has been on the rise and the proportion of female students in these institutions, is also rapidly increasing. This may be seen as positive in quantitative terms but the education offered in these schools in addition to reinforcing traditional female roles, also fail to provide the female students with an education that will increase employment opportunities in modern social institutions. Thus, in the long run, it can have an adverse impact on women’s status.
34. Women’s participation in higher education has shown an increase through the years. Data reveals that share of women in higher education is about one third of the total. Although female students are concentrated in conventional female fields such as humanities and fine arts, it is interesting to note that medical school enrollment is considerably high by. In the past years, engineering as another non-conventional field for women has been on the rise.
35. From the point of view of institutionalization, perhaps the most noteworthy development of the past decade, is the establishment of women’s studies and research centers is several universities in Istanbul, Ankara and Adana. Many of these programs were made possible by funds provided by DGSPW from UNDPGOT project entitled “Program for the Enhancement of Women’s Integration in Development”. Under the same project short term training programs, research and women’s data bank have been supported.
36. An important dimension of education for women takes place within the framework of informal education programs. The training centers offering vocational training and literacy courses attract large participation. Radio and television is effectively used in extending educational messages particularly to rural women.
37. Gender inequality in education has a direct impact on opportunities and patterns of women’s employment. Despite the apparent consensus in our society over the importance of women’s participation in the workforce, for women themselves as well as their families and the national economy, effective measures towards this end have not been taken, Therefore, increasing women’s employment in jobs with social security, ensuring that women enter the work life as qualified and skilled labor, developing the necessary training programs to this effect, remain basic targets. The persisting problems with regard to the employment of women can be summarized as follows: (1) the rate of women’s participation in the workforce is low and shows a decrease from 34% in 1990 to 30% in 1995; (2) the vast majority of the women in the workforce are in the agricultural sector working as unpaid family workers; (3) women’s employment in the non-agricultural and non-rural sectors is highly marginal not only quantitatively but also in terms of their concentration into areas of work which may be considered as appropriate female’s tasks, such as textiles, food industry and the like; (4) urban employment rates for women is more than double that of men; (5) the urban informal sector provides the greatest work opportunity for women are by and large excluded from the legal and social protection and benefits available in the formal sector.
38. Surplus labor emanating form the gap between high population increase and low economic growth act as a major constraint on work availability for everyone, but women are particularly at a disadvantage since, as mentioned earlier, they lag behind men in education and skill. Globalization, while increasing the competition over cheap labor in the Third World is at the same time reducing the possibilities for expanding permanent-secure jobs in the domestic and international labor markets. Given the trends of globalization the prospects of improving employment opportunities and work conditions all over the world seem to be limited for the working classes in general. This, no doubt, is a common and pressing challenge not only for individual countries but also for international agencies such as the various organizations of the United Nations system.
39. Despite the bleak picture presented above, further examination of women’s employment reveals some promising trends. For example it is important to note that there is a positive correlation between women’s education and their employment. Furthermore, review of sectoral employment data shows that women professionals are highly represented in the academia, medicine, dentistry and law. This is in clear contrast to the internationally observed tendencies where the aforementioned professions are normally exclusionary towards women. On the other hand, a glass ceiling is at work in many of the professions where women become confined to a position with less prestigious and authority. For example, in the medical profession female doctors tend to be discouraged from becoming surgeons. Similar sex-typing can be found in other professions as well. While women are relatively well off holding public sector administrative posts, there is a clear concentration in low and middle administrative positions.
40. As it is revealed in our report, DGSPW is sponsoring numerous projects to improve employment opportunities for women. In the recent years certain incentives have been introduced to encourage and support low income women to start their own small business. So far, however, it has not been possible to effectively deal with problems associated with credit allocation and cultural constraints on motivating women to enter into non-conventional activities.
41. One of the universal obstacles to women’s gainful employment is bearing and rearing of babies. We firmly hold the belief that this should be accepted as a societal responsibility which is shared by the family members, employers and the state. DGSPW is working towards the adoption of new legal and administrative measures regulating maternity leaves that would partially alleviate the burden from women. Currently, both the Labor Law and the Civil Servant Law have protective clauses with regard to maternity related matters.
42. A gender bias and gender inequality in health is not a widely observed phenomenon in Turkey. Women and men are both affected by poor health conditions, however, women experience them differently. Domestic violence, poverty and economic dependency, women’s limited power to control their own sexual and reproductive capacities in development are factors which have adverse impact on women’s health. Maternal mortality rates, which are quite high by international standards, are indications of the high health risks women are subjected to. Lack of education, fatalism, regional disparities in distribution of health services, lack of equal access to the existing health services and the low status attributed to women, all account for high maternal deaths. The fact that abortion is legal in Turkey accounts for reducing further complications on women’s health.
43. Women’s mental health, on the other hand, until recently has been largely neglected. Due to lack of comprehensive research, it is difficult to make any assessment of the problem with certainty. However, the Ministry of Health has adopted a policy shift which approaches women's health as a totality rather than within the framework of reproductive health and family planning as was previously the case. This shift in policy encompasses the state of emotional, social and physical well-being of women and young girls. As such, possibilities for greater gender sensitivity and the attainment of better health would be achieved. Another recent attempt employed by the Ministry of Health, especially after Beijing, is to integrate the involvement of men in reproductive health and family planning. This is indeed a positive move, on the part of the government, towards the betterment of gender sensitive health.
44. Health is not only important for its own sake but also because it is a prerequisite to women's productive participation in all spheres of social life. Rural women are particularly vulnerable since their access to health care is limited and yet they must work under physically demanding conditions, whether in domestic production or in the field. Most of rural women are engaged in agricultural production and in animal husbandry in varying capacities. Parallel to the general decrease in the overall agricultural workforce in Turkey, the proportion of the total female labor working in agriculture has also shown a drop over the years. Their percentage within the agriculture workforce, however, has in fact increased (from 53.5% in 1885 to over 55% in 1990). This process, which is observed in many of the Third World countries has been referred to as the "feminization of agriculture". Given the fact that Turkish agriculture takes place in mainly on small-owner operated plots of less than 10 hectares, the majority of women working in this sector are unpaid family workers. Women of the poorer households and the landless also do wage work to contribute to the household subsistence. In addition to direct labor input into household production or wage work, rural women also contribute to the household economy as they organize labor and resource exchange groups through which significant, and national economy, they have been grossly neglected in terms of acknowledgment and representation in statistics and policy formulation. As a result, impact of modernization or development interventions, has had contradictory consequences for rural women. On the one hand, with the commoditization of consumption, adoption of new technologies for domestic chores and improvements in village infrastructure, women's everyday work load has been reduced, on the other hand, male migration and the intensification of production of labor intensive cash crops, have increased the work load for most rural women. While they assume more and more work on the farm, their access to vital resources such as credit, training, extension services etc. have remained extremely limited.
45. Since late 1980s, "women in development" (WID) has been accepted, by policy makers, as an important component of overall development initiatives, however, little progress has been achieved in implementation thus far. Rural women are still conceptualized by planners of development either within a welfare framework or as potential labor to be more intensively utilized. As a result, women components of development projects are not able to go beyond conventional home economics courses or income generating activities mainly in handicrafts. The idea of conceptualizing women as active and integral components of development is still somewhat marginal for the more technically minded decision makers in Ministries such as Agriculture and Forestry. NGO involvement in rural development is also quite limited. Nonetheless, the fact that WID became a recognized area activity, has motivated academics, decision makers and development agents alike to design effective WID models.
46. Most concentrated efforts in rural development have been in Southeastern Turkey both in the context of the GAP (Southeastern Development Project) and many other independent projects. The primary aim of these projects is to attack regional underdevelopment. The recently introduced community centers (CATOM), in various southeast provinces, offer multiple opportunities for the region's women, such as, courses in Turkish and literacy, training in specific skills etc. Academicians and women's organizations have also been directing their attention towards southeastern women. Regional rural women's conference, organized by the Sociology Association, on November 1996 drew 80 women from Turkish, Kurdish and Arabic speaking villages for problem identification workshops in the city of Sanliurfa. It was the first time rural women of such diverse backgrounds came together in public space and spoke for themselves. The most commonly identified problems by these women were, early forced marriages, bride price, polygamy, and lack of employment opportunities. A women's organization has planned another grassroots activity in Sanliurfa for March 8, 1997. This will be the first of a series of consciousness raising initiatives to combat honor killings.

47. Last but not least, we would like to give you a brief assessment of Turkey's standing with regard to the legal framework regulating marriage and family life. It is within this context that Turkey has placed reservations on Article 15, paragraph 2 and 4 and Article 16, paragraphs 1 c, d, f and g of the convention, on the grounds that these are in contradiction with the relevant clauses of the Turkish Civil Code.
48. According to the Turkish Civil Code:

1. the husband has the legal standing to represent the conjugal union (Article 154);
2. the husband chooses the domicile and duly provides for the maintenance of wife and children (Article 152/2);
3. the wife acquires the husband's surname (Article 153/1);
4. the wife, to the extent of her ability must assist the husband by word and deed in his effort to maintain the home, the wife is responsible for household management (Article 153/2);
5. parental authority over children are shared by both parents but in case of dispute, the husband's view prevails (Articles 263).

49. With regard to regulation of property, the law stipulates "separation of property". That is, unless the parties have not adopted another system by contract, the system of separation of property is valid between spouses. Since, it is not customary in Turkey to arrange a contract upon entering or during marriage, the conventional practice results in registering property acquired during marriage in the husband's name. In case of divorce, women suffer losses since they can not make any legal claim over property.
50. The Turkish draft law which proposes a revision of the civil code addresses the discriminatory clauses mentioned above. The most significant change foreseen in the proposed draft, enables woman to use her surname along with the husband's; each spouse would represent the conjugal union and jointly determine the conjugal home; and share equally the property acquired within the duration of marriage.
51. Once the draft law is enacted the reservations of the Turkish government to CEDAW on its ratification would be lifted.
52. In conclusion, we believe that there is much to be accomplished to reach the gender equality. Disparities persist in women's access to education, health resources and employment; women are exposed to domestic violence and the legal framework has some discriminatory articles. However, we believe that there has been considerable change to alleviate discrimination, even when it has been established, some laws have been amended, shelters, a library and women's studies centres have opened. Perhaps most importantly, discrimination against women has become and is now a critical issue in the public agenda. We have thus reason to believe further progress will be made in the future.
53. State Minister, Mme. Islay Saygin, who is responsible for women's affairs and the family in Turkey, has accompanied us to this very important meeting, to verify her continuing commitment to the advancement of women, as were her predecessors. The importance of such support within the government, to speed up the resolution of outstanding issues can not be over emphasized.

General comments

1. Although the second and third periodic reports submitted by Turkey (CEDAW/C/TUR/2-3) are well structured and followed the guidelines established by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, little attempts has been made to evaluate the various laws referred to in the report for their de facto impact on women. The frankness of the report was appreciated by the working group, but the collation of very detailed information meant that it was difficult to assess the impact of the many measures that has been introduced in Turkey to achieve gender equality and to ascertain women's de facto status in Turkish society both in public and private life. An honest review of their position and the gains that have been made both de jure and de facto since the last report and the goals yet to be achieved would provide a basis for dialogue enabling the Committee to assess women's position and to ascertain whether all sectors of Turkish society are approaching equality. The working group was, however, appreciative of the attempts that had been made to provide statistical data, although it was concerned that statistics relating to family planning methods and distribution of births and marriages did not go beyond the 1980s. The working group regretted that it was not able to take advantage of the questions of the third report owing to the fact that the second report was replaced by the third report at a late stage, thereby hampering the ability of the experts to give it careful consideration. The working group also noted that the rights position of minority groups in Turkey, some of whom are large, were not touched on in the report and suggested that in future reports that the rights of members of such groups to education, work and health protection be described.

 

 

Reservations

2. What steps have been taken as a result of the national machinery's activities described in paragraph 11 to identify amendments to the Civil Code that will enable Turkey's law to be brought into compliance with the Conventions? In the event the necessary amendments have been identified, has the Civil Code been amended and when will the reservations be removed? What other steps have been taken towards the withdrawal of Turkey's reservations to the Convention? Will the target in the draft plan of Turkey for withdrawal of reservations by the year 2000 be met? Will amendments to the Constitution be required to allow Turkey to conform with the Convention? If so, when will these amendments be formulated and what is the process for such amendments?

 

 

Questions related to the articles of the Convention

Article 1

3. Please describe laws discriminatory to women that are currently under review. Is review of these laws a parliamentary priority?

Article 2

4. What is the status of the draft authorization law for the re-establishment of the Undersecretriat for Women and the Family? Will it be institutionalized by law?
5. Please describe articles of the Turkish Criminal Code that are currently under review. What is progress in review? Why has it taken so many years to review the Civil Code?

Article 3

6. What is the status of the statistical database on women? Is this accessible to non-governmental organizations? If so, how are they using database?
7. Is the Directorate-General attached to the Prime Minister as a unit under the mandate of the State Ministry and who is at the head of the Directorate? Is the Directorate-General distinct from the Women's Unit under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security? If so, what is the relationship between these entities? What is the budget and staffing of the Directorate?
8. Does the Directorate have regional and local units that follow the implementation and the protection and improvement of the status of woman or is it a centralized body?
9. How does the Directorate financially support voluntary organizations dealing with women's issues?
10. In what way and how does the Directorate cooperate with non-governmental organizations? Have non-governmental organizations has an impact on the Directorate's policies and programmes?

Article 4

11. Are there any measures of affirmative action or temporary measures within article 4 of the Convention that have been introduced in Turkey to ensure that women are able to exercise their rights? If there are such measures, what have been their effect and in which sectors?
12. Are there any measures of affirmative action specifically directed at minority women in Turkey? Are specific programmes available for Kurdish women?

Article 5

13. Are coerced virginity examinations carried out on women who complain of sexual assault? If so, do the police or other government agencies conduct these examinations? Are women subjected to coerced virginity examinations in any circumstances?
14. Are there any consequences for women who are found to be non virgins upon marriage?
15. What measures exist in Turkey to discourage random harassment of women and girls?
16. Are there any gender dimensioned to the citizenship and human rights course that will be taught in schools?
17. What measures have been taken to ensure that women and men condemn violence against women in the family, in particular that directed by husbands at their wives?
18. Could you explain the means by which traditions and practices restricting the assignment of women to duties of local administration were abolished?
19. In paragraph 57 and 58 of the second periodic report it is indicated that women and girls who entered prostitution did so because of low wages or sexual harassment in previous jobs and that they chose prostitution in part for their economic security. Also, on third had husbands or boyfriends who had forced them into prostitution. What measures have been put in place to prevent the harassment, violence against or coercion of women that result in their becoming prostitutes? What is the penalty or punishment for men who coerce women and girls into prostitution?
20. Please provide data on all types of violence against women and girls as required in General Recommendation 19, paragraph 24 (U) and (V). The data should include information on the incidence of rape, incest and physical violence in public and private life. What legal, preventive and protective measures are in place to reduce the incidence of violence against women? Do police have a policy of routinely arresting when there is prima facie evidence of an offence? Is there any form of violence that is perpetrated against women in the name of tradition or religion, e.g. female genital mutilation, or in order to enforce religiously based dress codes? Is there any form of violence perpetrated against women of minority groups in the population and how does the State address this?
21. Have the media undertaken measures to counteract stereotypical portrayal of women and to eliminate the notion of the inferiority of women in comparison to men? Please provide a statistical profile disaggregated by sex of media professionals. How many women are employed at high level in the media?
22. Was the meeting in 1995 between the Directorate General on the Status and problems of Women and the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation the first of a regular series of meeting or an isolated event? What were the results of the 1995 meeting?
23. Have the programmes for women's empowerment been evaluated? Describe the programmes that the Directorate intends to introduce to modify discriminatory attitudes towards women.
24. Will the Directorate recommend the revision of school textbook to eliminate stereotypical presentations of women and girls?
25. Have family life education courses emphasizing the father's parental responsibilities been introduced in Turkey? If so, what has been their effect?
26. Could you explain why measures to eliminate violence against women were described in Turkey's report under article 67?
27. Does Turkey have shelters for victims of family violence? If so, how many and how are they financed?
28. Please describe the results of the Women's Studies Centre's activities with regard to the formation of public opinion and raising awareness of the problems of women.
29. Is there any incidence of "honour killing" in Turkey? If so, how many and how is it addressed legally? Have any measures been taken to eliminate this practice?
30. Are men who marry women whom they have sexually assaulted immune from prosecution?
31. What is the punishment for men who kidnap women?
32. Does the law differentiate between rape and rape within marriage? Is rape within marriage grounds for divorce?
33. Please clarify article 423/1 of the Criminal Code relating to sentencing in cases of rape.

Article 6

34. While the second periodic report of Turkey contains very interesting information on the reform of the law concerning the penalty for abduction and rape of a prostitute and on the socio-economic situation of prostitutes, it provides no information as to whether the number of prostitutes subjected to exploitation and trafficking by third parties is decreasing or increasing, or whether specific measures have been taken to protect women, and in particular the most vulnerable groups such as migrant women and young women, including legislation in force and its application. Are prostitutes subject to compulsory health checks? Please provide information on cases of trafficking and exploitation of women. What penal or other consequences have there been for traffickers and procurers, and for the prostitutes? If the later are illegal immigrants, are they immediately deported? If so, how can they testify against the traffickers? Please provide statistics on prostitution disaggregated by age.
35. Do prostitutes have easy access to the same information and care services, for health, training and employment, as other women? What is the attitude of the police towards prostitutes? What rehabilitation programmes are available to prostitutes?
36. Do many Turkish women emigrate? If so, are their reasons for going to other countries known? Are women, in particular young women, informed and protected so that they do not fall victim to trafficking networks operating through supposed employment agencies? Is there any cooperation agreement with other countries to protect women from trafficking networks?

Article 7

37. How many woman did former Prime Minister Ciller appoint to her cabinet?
38. Is there a women's caucus in the Parliament?
39. What is the representation of women in the Parliament after last election?
40. What kind of electoral systems does Turkey have?
41. Have you undertaken, through governmental directives, some initiatives to promote women to decision making posts in the political sector as well as government as a whole?
42. How are non-governmental organizations financed? Is there any State support for them? If so, how many receive and what are the criteria for such support?
43. Do the political parties continue to maintain the quota system for women's representation?
44. What measures have been taken by the Government to protect the rights of political activists and journalists?

Article 8

45. Are there any barriers that prevent women foreign service personnel from advancing to high level positions?
46. Are the same criteria applied in the recruitment and promotion of male and female foreign service personnel?
47. Are there any consequences with regard to employment and promotion for female foreign service personnel who are married to foreigners?

Article 9

48. The statement on Turkish citizenship law suggests that Turkish women are treated differently from men in that they lose citizenship if the citizenship of the husband is sough. If this is so, it contravenes the provisions of article 9 of the Convention. Are there any exceptions to this provision? What measures are in place to amend the citizenship law?
49. Are there steps already undertaken by the official authorities to remove the reservation to article 97?

Article 10

50. What measures have been taken or are planned to reduced the differential between the attendance of women and men at the lycee level?
51. What is the current literacy rate of girls and women in Turkey? Describe special measures that have been taken to reduce illiteracy of Turkish women and girls?
52. Has the Government implemented any programme in the eastern and southeastern regions of the country, such as Anatolia, to address the serious situation with regard to girls access to education? Is it compulsory?
53. Has the extension of compulsory education from five to eight years at the primary school level been implemented?
54. What were the results of the cooperation among the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women and the Ministry of Education? Were the stereotyped sections of educational textbooks deleted?
55. Is the Women's Studies Centre within Istanbul University the only centre of this kind or are there other similar institutions in the country? Have the women's studies programmes been introduced in some universities?

Article 11

56. How have the principles of article 49 (29) of the Turkish Constitution guaranteeing that the Sate will ensure protective and simplifying measures to create "industrial peace" in the relations between the employer and employees been achieved? Is the elimination of the segregation of the workforce seen as achieving "industrial peace"?
57. What is the minimum age for formal employment in Turkey? How many girls between 12 and 14 are employed in Turkey? What protections exist for girls who work? Are the standards prescribed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) with respect to child labour applied in Turkey?
58. Which workers benefit from Civil Servant Law No. 657, article 104, and article 70 of the Labour Code?
59. Is maternity leave in Turkey available to all workers? Is it paid or unpaid? Is there a provision for paternity leave?
60. What is the current status of the draft law on work security?
61. What steps have been taken to address attitudes that correct occupational segregation in the workforce?
62. How many trade union organizations exist in Turkey? What proportion of the labour force is unionized? What percentage of women workers are members of trade unions? What sectors of female employment are unionized?
63. Does Turkey acknowledge the concept of equal pay for work of equal value? What measures have been taken to introduce equal pay for equal work between men and women?
64. Have any measures been introduced to promote women into positions of management in the workforce?
65. What measures have been introduced to allow women to combine maternity with work in the formal sector?
66. Are woman textile and rural workers in family enterprises compensated financially for their labour or is this work regarded as part of their contribution to the family?
67. Please describe measures that have been introduced to address sexual harassment in the workplace.

Article 12

68. What programmes have been introduced to address maternal and infant mortality?
69. Do married women, in law or in practice, require their husbands' consent to seek access to health services and family planning services in particular?
70. Is the fact that the National Council for AIDS is attached to the Prime Minister's Office indicative that HIV/AIDS is pandemic in Turkey?
71. What is the incidence of HIV/AIDS among women and girls? What measures have been taken to promote public awareness of HIV/AIDS? Have any such measures been taken by the media?
72. How have men reacted to family planning programmes and services?
73. Do women and teenage girls in Turkey have free access to information about family planning, the danger of sexually transmitted diseases, how AIDS is contracted and how to prevent it?
74. Do you have statistical data on the incidence of substance abuse among women, including illegal street drug, pharmaceutical drugs, alcohol and tobacco, disaggregated by age?
75. What rehabilitative programmes are available for women substance abusers?

Article 13

76. Describe the effects of the National Programme for the enhancement of Women's Integration in Development. What are the results of the research studies with regard to women's micro-enterprises, portrayal of women in the media, unionization and so on?
77. What has been the impact of the Halkbank and Vakifbank credit schemes on the access of women to credit? How many women have benefited from these programmes? What is the percentage of loan repayment by women?
78. Are there any legal or social barriers that prevent women from participating in sport or recreational activities? Do any legal or social barriers prevent women participating in international competitive sports?
79. What specific social security benefits will be available to women in agriculture under Law 2926, described in paragraph 163 of the second periodic report?
80. What measures have been introduced to reduce illiteracy among rural women?
81. Have any specific programmes been targeted at women living in the southeastern region of Turkey?
82. Do rural women have access to agricultural extension services? If so, what percentage of extension workers are women? What impact have extension service programmes had on the lives of rural women?
83. Are rural women aware of the Convention and the rights it establishes for them?
84. Have legal literacy programmes been introduced for rural women? If so, what is their content? Do they address the issues of early marriage, choice of husband, "bride price", property and inheritance rights?
85. Are specific programmes available to rural woman relating to health and family planning? Have measures been taken to extend health insurance coverage to women agricultural workers?
86. What were the results of the studies relating to employment opportunities and improved housing for rural women?
87. What measures have been taken to ensure women agricultural workers are compensated for their labour?

Article 15 and 16

88. What rights do women have over property? Are there any restrictions on the disposal of land by women?
89. Do women have autonomous control over their income? In particular, do women have the sole right to control the economic and other proceeds of their labour and/or employment?
90. Please provide details on the proposed amendment of the Turkish Civil Code as foreshadowed in paragraph 202 of the second periodic report. Does it comply in all respects with articles 15 and 16? What activities in this respect are being conducted by the Directorate-General on the Status and Problems of Women?
91. Describe measures that have been introduced to prevent marriages of girls below the legal age for marriage. What sanctions exist for those couples who only have religious marriages? What constitutes an unofficial marriage?
92. Are there women's organization in turkey working to raise women's awareness of the need to revise the Civil Code?
93. Does Civil society exert pressure on legislators to agree to such revision?
94. If men are the heads of households and the ones who make decisions for the children, including about their diet, what is the status of female heads of household in Turkey?
95. How can a daughter who inherits land in the absence of claims by other (male) heirs demonstrate the ability to manage it appropriately?
96. What programmes have been developed by the Government to let women know before they marry that a separation of property system exists?
97. In addition to the bill put forward by the Ministry of Justice, other bills have been drafted by women legislators to ensure that women do not lose their property owing to divorce. What has happened to these proposals? What institutions are being consulted by the Ministry of Justice, and for what purpose?

Fourth World Conference on Woman

98. What has Turkey done to implement the Platform for Action and the commitments of Turkey at the Fourth World Conference on Women? In particular, have programmes been introduced to ensure the mainstreaming of a gender perspective in all policies and planning? Has a national plan of action been formulated since the Conference? If so does it incorporate all the critical areas of concern in the Platform for Action?

 
Madam Chairperson,

Distinguished Delegates,

Please allow me to express my appreciation for the many discerning questions you have directed to us reflecting your genuine interest and concern for the situation if woman in Turkey.

Our responses to the issues and questions raised by the pre-session working group are as follows:

Article 1

(3) The discriminatory provision of some laws, currently under review, are as follows:

• Civil Code

1. husband has legal standing to represent conjugal union (Article 154)
2. husband chooses the domicile and duly provides for the maintenance of wife and children (Article 152, Also Art: 21);
3. wife acquires the husband's surname (Article 153/1)
4. parental authority over children is shared by both parents but in case of dispute, the husband's view prevails (Article 263)
5. The matrimonial property regime is separation of property. In the existing cultural context, this results in property acquired during marriage to be registered in the husband's name because husband is gainfully employed when the wife remains an unremunerated homemaker (Article 170)

• Criminal Code

1. The Turkish Criminal Code differentiates between rape of minors, rape of majors and rape that violates virginity. In the sense that the penalty for rape is specified differentially for violation of virginity there is discrimination among women (Article 423/1)
2. Similarly, a distinction is made regarding abduction of single versus married woman, with heavier penalty for the abduction of the latter (Article 429); parallel to this, penalty is reduced for the crime if the act of abduction is committed wit the intention of marriage regardless of the women's will (Article 433).
3. Article 440 and 441 define adultery differently for men and for woman (furthermore, the criminal code calls for a reduced sentence for acts of murder incited by adultery, this has important implications for violence against woman). Recently, Article 441 has been annulled by the Constitutional Court. Legislature has one year to replace the annulled article with a new one. At this moment, let me take the opportunity to inform the Committee about the basis of this decision. According to Article 90 of the Turkish Constitution, international treaties duly put into effect, carry the force of law.

• Labor Code

1. According to this law, employer has the right to terminate a female worker's contract without notice at the end of the paid maternity leave. (Article 17/1a).

(4) There have been two attempts to establish an undersecretariat for Woman's Affairs and Social Services by statutory decrees, number 514 and 536 in 1993 and 1996 respectively. However, both statutory decrees and the authorization laws, they were based on, have been annulled by the Constitutional Court for technical reasons. After the establishment of the 54^th coalition Government, under the auspices of the current Minister, Her Excellency Mme. Saygin, a draft law, instead of statutory decree, has been prepared to ensure the re-establishment of the Undersecretariat. The current draft law has already been signed by the Cabinet Ministers and forwarded to the special commission of the Parliament for review.

(5) Articles of the Criminal Code under review have been presented above, therefore, I will not repeat them here. This law is being re-drafted by a Commission of experts convened by the Justice Ministry and is expected to present the results of its work by March 1997 to the Cabinet via the Justice Ministry. Upon adoption of the draft law by the Cabinet, it will be submitted to the Parliament. The Civil Code is also under similar review by a Justice Ministry Commission. It is reported that much of the work of that Commission is complete and the draft legislation is expected to be submitted to the Cabinet in the near future. The process has taken very long because the said Commission endeavoured to review and update the entire text of the civil Code and not just those articles related to gender discrimination.

Article 3

(6) The Department of "Statistics on Social Structure and Women" established in 1993 with the support of the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Woman (DGSPW), compiles gender-based statistics. The department is in the process of improving its concepts and methods of data collection as well as developing computerized nationwide network of disaggregated database by sex. The existing database is widely accessible to any user.

(7) The Directorate General on the Status and problem of Women (DGSPW), is attached to the Prime Minister office, operation under the mandate of a State Ministry. The Fact that such a unit is located at the highest level in the Government, is an indication of the commitment vested in the advancement of woman. However, the staffing and the allocation of funds of the Directorate is meager. Currently, there are a total of 45 staff, 98% of which are female and its share from national budget is only 0.004%.

DGSPW is a distinct unit from the woman's unit under the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. One of the prime functions of the former, within its coordinating capacity, is to establish interministerial networking in order to mainstream gender issues in sectoral plans. In this connection, the Directorate works in close coordination with the relevant entities in other ministries.

(8) Given its present structure, DGSPW is a centralized body, without regional or local units. Local units will be established once the law of the undersecretariat is enacted.

Since its inception, the Directorate had been headed by women. The present General Director, Mme. Narinc Ataman, is an activist from the woman's movement, who was actively involved in the founding of "Woman's Solidarity Association", which primarily work towards the eradication of violence against woman.

(9-10) the initiatives of both the national machinery and the woman's NGOs in Turkey are diverse and non-conventional. The two work in close cooperation on policy formulation, research and project implementation. Up to date, the directorate has financed over 30 research projects carried out by NGOs, academicians and other research groups, covering various topics on woman's issues. During 1996, under the coordination of the directorate, 4 NGO commissions have been formed on law, education, employment and health. The objective of the commission is to prepare plans and policies for the advancement of women in Turkey. In addition, the Directorate has provided substantial financial support to the Purple Roof Shelter Foundation. Further more, DGSPW calls on all women's NGOs, academicians and other women's groups to participate in the formulations of major policies and strategies for the advancement of women in Turkey.

Article 4

(11) Turkey does not have an affirmative action policy as such. A quota system was initially adopted by the Social Democratic People's party - SHP (25%). Currently, both the successor of this party, the Republican People's Party - CHP (20%) and the True Path Party-DYP (10%) implement quotas. However, the Ministry for Woman's Affairs and Family has, under different Ministers, expressed its commitment to a policy of temporary affirmative action and equal status act. This intention has not been materialized.

(12) The status of minorities in turkey is determined with the Lousanne Agreement which identifies only the non-Muslims as groups to be protected. Kurds, on the other hand, are but one of numerous ethnic groups found in Turkey, none of which hold a legal minority status. Consequently, there are no special policies and programs for the eradication of regional underdevelopment and population displacement in Southeastern Turkey. In the summer of 1995, a community center was initiated in Seyrantepe, Diaybakir, by the State Ministry for Women's Affairs and Family, to accommodate for women who had to migrate. Within this context, Kurdish women benefit from development projects since they are concentrated in areas identified as priority regions of development.

Article 5

(13) Violation of virginity in act of rape is an aggravating factor under the Turkish Criminal Law. This necessitates virginity exams in an all allegations of rape; such examinations, however, warrants consent of the parents of a minor and, in the case of major, her own consent. Virginity exam must be conducted by the State medical examiner. Isolated cases of illegally carried out virginity exams have been reported in the media such cases provide grounds for litigation. However, despite the fact that virginity is an important value in Turkish society, the public reacts with intense sensitivity to incidents of illegal, coerced virginity exams. For example, in February 1995, there was an attempt to pass a disciplinary regulation in high schools that would allow school principles to request virginity examinations of girls who are suspected of "immoral conduct". The proposed regulation was immediately withdrawn under strong public outery.

(14) There is no legal framework dealing with situations where a woman may be found to be non-virgin upon marriage. Reactions to such cases vary according to local cultural practices. In rural areas and Southeastern Turkey, the consequences may be quite detrimental for the woman. She would be shamed, sent back to her paternal home and divorced. In urban areas, and among segments of the population, this is a non-issue.

(15) There are no formal measures to discourage sexual harassment, however, the issue holds a high priority on the agenda of feminist activists and the NGO who have been actively campaigning and staging public protests since 1980s. The World Bank, through the DGSPW, is currently sponsoring a large scale research project on genderbased discrimination and sexual harassment in the work place. The result of this project will be publish shortly. Also, Turk-Is, the largest trade union in Turkey, published a guide book entitled "Sexual harassment at the work place" in September 1996.

(16) The State Minister on Woman's Affairs and Family has made an agreement with the Ministry of Education to integrate woman's human rights concept into the curricula of the human rights courses to be taught in primary education starting 1997-1998 school year.

(17) Most important measure in this direction is the proposed changes in the Criminal Code, Article 456, 457 and 458. These articles of the prevailing law treat domestic violence under the notion of maltreatment of family members. There is need for legislation specially addressing violence against woman in the family. Turkish national television networks have programs which address domestic violence; extensive research projects, with financial support from UNDP allocated through DGSPW, are being carried out to explore the nature of violence; and NGOs systematically launch campaigns and protest condemning violence against women.

(18) The prevention of women from becoming district governors, positions were challenged in court in the late 1980's by a young female candidate on the grounds that it violates the equality principle in the Constitution. She won the case and thus opened the path for women to become district governors and province governors. Presently, of the 806 district governors, 3 are women.

(19) There are no special measures to prevent the harassment, violence against or coercion of women which result in their becoming prostitutes, other than those legal and social norms that have already been mentioned. Incitement to prostitution, on the other hand, is regulated by Article 435 of the Turkish Criminal Code. The severity of the punishment, imprisonment, as well as fine, differs according to the age of the person incited to prostitution. The penalties range from six months to three years.

(20) Among new convicts received into prisons, we know that there have been 1897 cases of rape and molesting in 1990, for 1994 the number is 1318. In 1990, 854 and in 1994, 604 men were convicted for kidnapping of girls and women. In a survey on Turkish women in the 1990s, commissioned by DGSPW, 18% of the women interviewed claimed that they were beaten by their husbands. Another survey carried out in 1995 on the "Views of Rural Men and Women in Southeastern Anatolia on Marital Relations and the Position of Women in the Society", found that 76% of women who live in villages are beaten by their husbands and that the principle cause of beating is disobedience to the husband (39%). Unfortunately, the present legislation can not effectively protect women from domestic violence. Furthermore, it is difficult for women exposed to violence to pursue their rights. For example, Article 478 states that physical abuse between spouses is a crime only if the injured party files a formal complaint. A formal complaint requires that the women subjected to violence show witnesses, insist on medical examination and follow up her claim - i.e. be persistent. Article 478 foresees imprisonment up to 30 months for maltreatment of family members. This article, however, does not state minimum punishment and most prison sentence are for 7 days, and thus, far from being preventive. Now, there is a draft law to amend Article 478. In response to demands coming from woman's rights associations and groups, the newly elected woman Minister of Interior has very recently (Jan.5, 1997) sent a decree asking the police to treat women who have been exposed to violence sensitively, with care.

Ankara University Woman's Studies Center carried out a training program in 1996 entitled "Our Friend at the police Station", aiming to raise sensitivity among law enforcement officers towards responding to victims of domestic violence.

There is no practice of female genital multilation, nor any reported incidences of violence perpetrated to enforce religiously based dress codes. There is no systematic violence perpetrated against women of minority groups in the population.

(21-22) DGSPW initiated a meeting in 1995 with Turkish Radio and Television. This, unfortunately, remains as an isolated event, However, it gave way to a daily TV program directed to women living in Southeastern Turkey which continues to be broadcast live. The program covers a wide range of issues from domestic violence to employment, and includes expert opinions on these issues. It is a popular program which has captured the interest of women from all walk of life - to which women respond with calls and letters.

In the context of increasing woman's consciousness, woman's programs in general have expanded their range of interest beyond homemaking. Critically, advertisements now include images of men assuming domestic roles such as detergent ads, showing husbands dishwashing or cleaning the floors. Perhaps ironically, the media has contributed to counteracting stereotypical portrayals of a woman Prime Minister and party leader since 1993. There is a concentration of women in the media, although most of them are presently junior-level executives or professionals, mainly because this is a new and expanding sector in Turkey. Among top executives, woman's presence is little. For example, in 1990, 5% of executive in TRT were women.

(23) All activities of DGSPW aim woman's empowerment and modification of discriminatory attitudes towards women. However, so far, there has not been a systematic evaluation of these programs.

(24) The Directorate recommends and works in cooperation with Ministry of Education to eliminate stereotypical presentation of women and girls ins chool textbooks as reported above. One of the decisions reached at the 15^th National Education Council held in Ankara in 1996 was to eliminate gender based prejudices and stereotypes from educational programs, books and messages.

(25) There are no "family education" courses per se. However, as we describe in article 5, Woman's Centers of the Universities have training courses that aim to promote gender equality.

(26) There is no apparent reason why measures to eliminate violence against women were described in Turkey's report under article 6. It is an editorial mistake, and we apologize to the Committee for this error in reporting.

(27) Following are the shelters for victims of domestic violence.

1. Woman's Shelter in Ankara operated by Woman Solidarity Foundation, 1993, financed by member fees and contributions;
2. Purple Roof Woman's Shelter Foundation, Istanbul 1995; financed by member fees, State Ministry for Woman's Affairs and Family contribution and funds from international sources;
3. Kucukcekmece Municipality Women's Home, Istanbul, 1996; financed by the municipality;
4. Buca Isilay Saygin Shelter, Izmir, 1993; financed by the municipality;
5. 12 state shelter houses catering to battered as well as homeless women.

(29) Incidents of honor killing, though rare, are encountered within different contexts and are inherent in local cultural practices or power relationships. As a result, implementation of universal laws come into direct conflict with informal "local norms". Two basic patterns are most distinguished in honor killings:

1. Collective acts of honor killings take place within traditional tribal, social where families may take collective decisions to persecute a girl/woman who has dishonored the family. In order to escape heavy penalty, a minor is often commissioned to fulfill the task. Such cases are treated as common crime by the courts. Defense uses custom and tradition as circumstantial evidence to appeal for a lighter sentence. This may be taken into consideration by the judge in reaching a verdict.
2. Other honor killings may involve a woman or her relatives killing and illegitimate infant. Article 453 in the Criminal Code foresees 4 to 8 years imprisonment for the former and 5 to 10 years for the latter. Honor killing have lately been attracting national interest due mostly to the sensitivity of woman's groups and their successful instigation of media's attention to the issue. This is expected to prompt new and more effective measures to eliminate this practice altogether.

(31) Punishments for abduction of women are as follows:

1. abduction of a minor, 5-10 years
2. abduction of a single major, 3-10 years
3. abduction of a married woman, not less than 7 years

(33) Article 423/1 of the Criminal Code does not relate to rape per se, but rather to the "violation of virginity" which, as explained earlier, is one kind of rape, according to the law. The article states that, "whoever seduces a girl who is above 15 years of age with the promise of marrying her is sentenced from 6 months to 2 years of imprisonment. If the man marries the woman, the case and the punishment is deferred. Yet, if, within 5 years, a decision for divorce is reached by the court, because the husband is found guilty, a public suit is initiated and if a punishment has been given before, it is implemented.

Article 6

(34) Disaggregated data on prostitution is not available. Table 21 in the annex of our 3^rd Periodic Report shows that court cases related to instigation to prostitution has increased from 636 in 1990 to 844 in 1994. No special measures exist to protect women from prostitution and related hazards. Registered prostitutes are subject to periodic health examinations in State Hospitals. Brothels are regulated by the Law no. 1593 on general hygiene. Penalty for incitement to prostitution is specified under Article 435 according to age of the person incited as follows:

1. Persons incited under age 15 - Penalty is not less than 2 years. If the inciter is a relative the penalty is not less than 3 years.
2. Person between the age of 15-21 penalty is from 6 months to 2 years plus five. If inciter is a relative the penalty is not less than 2 years plus five.
3. persons above age 21-penalty is between 6 months and 2 years.

(35) Prostitutes have less access to health, training and employment opportunities than other women. The attitude of the police is considering towards prostitutes. There are no formal rehabilitation programs for prostitutes.

(36) In 1994, there were 2.9 million Turks in European Union countries. In Germany, the figure was 1.9 million. Women constituted 45% of this group and most woman immigrants to foreign countries are married women who follow their husbands. There are, however, some single women who migrate for better economic opportunities but these are almost always professional and educated women. Turkish migrant women's involvement with prostitution and trafficking networks is a non-issue. Cultural norms, strong family ties and strict controls over woman's sexuality operate to prevent women from falling victim to trafficking networks.

Article 7

(37) Former Prime Minister Tansu Ciller appointed a woman as Minister of State responsible for women's affairs and the family. As the Deputy Prime Minister and the leader of coalition party in the current Government, she has appointed four women to ministerial portfolios. One, herself as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, another Minister of Interior and two Minister of State, one responsible for the treasury and the other women's affairs and family. This has been unprecedented in Turkish politics.

(38) There is no women's caucus in the Parliament. However, women deputies do collaborate informally. After the 1995 general elections, they gather together to formulate common strategies on women's issues irrespective of their parties. 11 female deputies (from DYP, ANAP, CHP), on behalf of their party groups, proposed an amendment of the article 170 of the Turkish Civil Code that regulates the matrimonial property regime.

(39) There are 13 women out of 55 parliamentarians (2.4%).

(40) Turkey has a proportional representation (PR) system, more specifically, D'Houndt with a threshold. Generally, PR is conductive to women's representation in larger number compared to majoritarian systems; in Turkey party leaders basically decide who will be placed on party lists and what their ranking in these list wll be. Without a quota system similar to those in Scandinavian countries, women have to organize as women voters whose vote is independent of their men so that they can pressure party leaders to place women in positions where women have a realistic chance of election to office.

(41) There are no explicit Government initiatives to promote women to decision making posts in the political sector or the Government as a whole.

(42) NGOs are financed through membership fees, donations, international sources as well as state support. Data on NGO's receiving state support is not available and there are no set criteria for such support, except for designation of some NGOs as catering to "public good". These NGOs get certain tax exemption requests to acquire this status are evaluated case by case.

(43) Political Parties continue to maintain the quota system for women's representation in their administrative organs.

(44) Journalists' rights are protected by relevant laws regulating the press.

Article 8

(45-46) Formally, same criteria are applied in the recruitment and promotion of male and female foreign service personnel. However, traditionally, women had been reluctant to apply to foreign service jobs, because it was not customary to expect spouses to follow their wives in foreign service jobs. Furthermore, even when women were employed in the foreign service, because many countries had provisions which prohibited spouses from gainful employment, husbands would have to become "homemakers" (which was inconceivable) or not follow their wives to foreign posts (which was undesirable). However, in recent years, there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of female applicants and recruits into foreign service, which shows that cultural norms are changing. Currently, 25% of the foreign service personnel is woman.

(47) Turkish foreign service personnel, female or male, with the permission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, can marry foreigners with no professional consequences. Until now, no female foreign service personnel indicated an intention to marry a foreigner, therefore, the consequences of such a marriage is not known.

Article 9

(48) Article 19 of the Turkish Citizenship Law states that, a Turkish woman married to an alien, if her husbands national law permits and if she notifies the relevant authorities that she decides to choose her husband's nationality, loses her Turkish citizenship. The reasoning behind this article is that, woman usually prefer to live in the country of the man they get married to. Since dual citizenship is not possible in some European countries it can be advantageous to seek the citizenship of the husband.

Article 9 of the Convention indicates that State Parties of the Convention should ensure that neither marriage to an alien nor change of nationality by the husband shall automatically change the nationality, render her stateless or force upon her the nationality of the husband. The relation between Article 9 of the Convention and the article 19 of the Turkish citizenship law may seems to be in conflict since only woman can lose her citizenship by way of marriage to an alien. But the article of the mentioned Turkish law neither makes the woman stateless nor changes her nationality automatically. There is always a need for a voluntary notification to be made by the woman. There are no exceptions to this provision and this provision of the Turkish Citizenship Law is not under review.

(49) Turkey has made some reservations regarding article 15 and 16. On article 9 of the Convention the Government of the Republic of Turkey has made a declaration indicating that Article 9 of the Convention is not in conflict with the provisions of article 5, 15 and 17 of the Turkish Law on Citizenship. There are no steps taken until today to change the content of our declaration.

Article 10

(50-53) Compulsory education has been increased from 5 to 8 years. The Ministry of Education is taking measures to prepare the infrastructure to ensure its systematic implementation.

(51) 28.03% of the female population, over age 6, is still illiterate. When regional distribution is taken into consideration, this goes up as high as 48.35% in the East and the Southeast. Turkey made a commitment in Beijing to eradicate illiteracy by the year 2000. To this effect, several measures can be cited: DGSPW has supported the establishment of an NGO commission on education. The commission has designed a TV program encompassing a series of literacy courses; the community centers (CATOM) in the Southeastern Anatolia region are giving literacy courses, among other areas of training; Ministry of Education, Under its adult education program, is launching a massive literacy campaign throughout the country. The measures, no doubt, have to be intensified if we are to reach our goal within the next 3 years.

(52) Eastern and Southern regions are identified as priority regions for development. Within this context, in addition to the routine efforts of relevant government institutions, there are special integrated development projects. For example, a protocol has been signed between the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and the Ministry of State responsible for Women's Affairs and Family to initiate a literacy campaign, along with a drive to provide health services ad training for income generating skills for women. Compulsory education requirement is valid for both sexes throughout the country.

(54) The cooperation between the Directorate and the Ministry of Education is an on going process. As stated in the introductory statement, educational materials used in schools continue to carry gender-based stereotypes. However, the outcome of the 15^th Education Council meeting, held in Ankara in 1996, emphasized the importance of eliminating gender-based prejudices and role stereotyping of women and men from educational programs, books and messages. All the participating parties in the Council, including the DGSPW, committed themselves to developing curricula, adopt textbooks and teaching aids free of sex-based stereotypes for all levels of education, including teacher training.

(55) There are now graduate programs in woman and gender studies, in three universities, Istanbul University, Middle East Technical University and Ankara University. Also, there are six Woman's Centers in Istanbul University, Marmara University; Ankara University; Cukurova University, Adana; Gazi University, Ankara; 9 Eylul University, Izmir. Most of these are all financially supported by the UNDP-GOD joint project.

Article 11

(56) The Turkish Constitution with its article 49 guarantees that the State will ensure protective and facilitating measures to create industrial peace in the relations between the employer and the employees. The State can legislate and the Government can implement the relevant legislation to realize the goal of "Industrial peace". Trade Union Law with some exceptions gives workers the right to establish unions and the rights to strike which are also stated in the Turkish Constitution. Another measure for the promotion of "industrial peace" is the prohibition of discrimination based on sex in wage determination. Article 26 of the Labor Code prohibits this kind of discrimination and states that discrimination can not be made between male and female workers performing jobs of the same nature and working with equal efficiency.

There is differential treatment of the work force in the Turkish Labor Law because some jobs are deemed to be physically strenuous for women. This is within the framework of protective legislation. Elimination of segregation of work force can be a step in achieving industrial peace. Women and men working in the same work place and without equal opportunities and in unequal positions would not facilitate the achievement of "industrial peace". However, women and men working in the same work force with equal opportunities and equal positions would create an environment of cooperation, of easy communication and capability to know and to get used to each other's problems.

(57) According to apprenticeship law, minimum age for employment is 12. 1992 Household labor Force Survey results show that 17.9% of girls in the 12-14 age group are employed and 4.2% of this group is, in the urban and 88.4% is in rural areas. In order to protect girls, Article 68 of the labor Code forbids the employment of girls, of any age, to work in mining, cable laying, sewage system, tunnel construction and other underground work and underwater operations. Turkey has accepted all ILO agreements with respect to child labor. However, contradictions in practice continue to exist. Turkey is one of the first countries to implement the ILO-IPEC project. Within this context, considerable steps have been taken to improve conditions of child labor and eventually to eliminate it altogether.

(58) Civil Servant Law covers all government employees, doing white collar clerical work, whereas, Labor Law covers those in blue collar, physically more demanding jogs in the public or private sector.

(59) Maternity leave in Turkey is available to all workers and it is paid for six weeks before and six weeks after delivery for female workers, three weeks before and three weeks after for civil servants. Under the draft law, there is provision for paternity leave.

(60) "Job Security Draft Bill" was submitted to the National Assembly on April 14, 1995. However, since it became null with the beginning the new legislative period, it was returned to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security on March 28, 1996. The current Government has not yet reactivated the procedures.

(61) No specific concrete steps have been taken to address attitudes that correct occupational segregation in the work force.

(62) As of January 1996, there are 109 Labour Union organizations and 54 Employers union organizations.

67.87% of the labor force is unionized. Among the women workers, 39.28%are unionized. Among the women workers, 39.28% are unionized. Women constitute 5.98% of all unionized workers in Turkey. Unionized workers are concentrated in textiles, food production and metallurgy industries, although there are unionized woman workers in other sectors too.

(63) Labor Law 1475, article 26 ensures equal pay for equal work. The concept of equal pay for equal value is acknowledged in the context of ILO Convention No. 100 which was signed in 1966. However, there are major deficiencies in the actualization of this principle.

(64) No measures, as such, have been introduced to promote women into positions of management in the work force.

(65) According to Article 7 of Labor Code, work places employing between 100-150 woman workers have to establish nursing rooms and day nurseries. Measures in this regard are not sufficient.

(66) The general practice is that women, and for that matter men, working in family enterprises in agriculture and non-agricultural sectors that operate solely on family labor, are not compensated financially. However, the larger firms may treat family labor within formal work relations.

(67) The issue of sexual harassment is only recently brought to public attention in Turkey by women's groups and the media. In this sense, not m