WUNRN
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT REPORT ON GENDER
EQUALITY IN TURKEY
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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT REPORT URGES
WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN TURKEY
STRASBOURG, France, May
24 (UPI) -- The European Parliament this week adopted a report urging Turkey to
follow up on its recent work toward securing gender equality and women's
rights.
The report, written by Socialists & Democrats Member of European Parliament
Emine Bozkurt, lays out a series of goals for Ankara to accomplish by 2020 in
raising the status of women to fully equal members of Turkish society as
Brussels and Ankara seek to breathe life into the country's stalled EU
accession bid.
The Dutch lawmaker's report was accepted unanimously by the legislative body's
Women's Rights and Gender Equality Commission in March, and Tuesday was
approved by the entire EP meeting in a plenary session, with 590 votes in
favor, 28 against and 53 abstentions, the Italian news agency ANSAmed reported.
Bozkurt, the EP's rapporteur on women's rights in Turkey, said the passage of
the report -- "A 2020 Perspective for Women in Turkey" -- is meant to
ensure that the European Commission keeps the issue of women's right and
domestic violence in the forefront of its efforts to promote a "positive
agenda" with Ankara.
The report "stresses that there can be no democracy without women and that
women should be treated as individuals rather than just as family members or as
mothers," the S&D Party said in a statement. "[It] highlights the
importance of placing women's rights at the core of accession negotiations
between Turkey and the EU."
In the report, Bozkurt calls for "zero tolerance" on violence against
women while also praising such positive steps such as a new law on violence
against women and the appointment of special prosecutors to handle such cases.
It also notes progress been made in terms of providing education for girls and
improving women's participation in employment and politics.
Opposition by Turkish civil society has been intense and to a large extent has
stymied the actual implementation of the reforms, but recent indications have
been more encouraging as the government steps up its efforts, Bozkurt said.
"Each of the relevant ministries are busy with bringing projects to life
which give effectiveness to the legislation on improving women's standard of
living," she noted. "More importantly, these ministries are
cooperating in the area of gender equality."
The report cites Turkey's newly established Ministry of Family and Social
Policies -- now a fully-fledged ministry with its own budget.
But many problems remain, it noted.
For instance, Turkey's new law against domestic violence "lacks a
mechanism which immediately removes [alleged perpetrators] from the vicinity of
the woman who has been subjected to violence" and the report urges
"uniform interpretation and application" of the measure by police and
prosecutors.
The EP's adoption of the report comes at a time when the European Commissioner
for Enlargement Stefan Fule has sought to ease the acrimony that has arisen in
EU-Turkish relations, partly due to disagreements over the status of the
divided island of Cyprus.
Last week in Ankara, Fule said restarting formal accession talks should begin
by opening "Chapter 23" of the process, which addresses reforms on
fundamental rights, the judiciary and corruption in Turkey.
"On women's rights, every step needs to be taken to implement the recent
law on violence against women, also, to improve the situation on the ground of
women in Turkey as regards education, employment and political representation,"
he said.
© 2012 United Press International, Inc.