" Deniz Baykal of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and Devlet Bahçeli of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), in opposition, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), have hardly been seen to agree on anything of substance.In the picture, Erdoğan is embracing his two rivals, who look like age-old buddies, all wearing lilac-colored ties in support of women's causes and seeming to have agreed to open the doors to greater participation for women while, in reality, the opposite is true. So what was this all about? Soon it was revealed that the Association for Supporting and Training Women Candidates (KADER), an NGO that works to get more women elected to Parliament and other offices, had had these posters printed to drive the point home that 50 percent of candidates should be women in the upcoming elections. This is indeed what women want because they form just 1 percent of local government representation.
According to figures from KADER, there is a single female provincial capital mayor, compared to 80 male mayors elected in the 2004 local elections. Among the existing 3,207 mayors nationwide, only 18 are women. Of the 33,678 municipal council members, those that are women number 799. Of the 3,152 members of provincial councils, there are 56 female council members.
In short, a group which makes up half of our population sees its members filling just 1 percent of seats and it is this discrepancy that makes Turkish women very unhappy. KADER representatives claim that candidacy is based on money and women lack the finances to back their attempts to stand. Furthermore, the decision makers are men and they prefer their own kind. This is why women's names do not appear on the candidate lists of political parties.
It is this stark truth that led them to adopt the maximal target: They want a quota of 50 percent from political parties. Can they get it? Hardly, but they are still determined to make a point and be counted.
Islamic feminists
There is yet another current among women that are seeking their rights. We could call them "Islamic feminists." Throughout the Islamic world, more educated women are trying to teach their counterparts about their rights, which is compatible with the human rights agenda of the West. They are enthusiastic about pointing out that their efforts are based on Islamic teachings.
Islamic feminism claims to reveal and to disseminate the egalitarian spirit of the Quran and the Hadiths. Islamic feminists have a much more limited but sounder target than classical or Western feminists, wanting gender equality to be adopted and observed within a family structure. They believe that if the family supports gender equality, they will stand firm in society to claim what is due to them by the male-dominated, traditional social culture. They want to secure the home ground first.
They make abundant references to the Quran and the Hadiths to demonstrate that Islam does not inherently discriminate against women. Their diligent work has revealed that the Islamic scriptures grant women more rights to inheritance and divorce than what is practiced today, as well as respectful treatment by a spouse and even choosing a husband of their own will. They even find evidence to support a woman's professional career outside of the family.
What is most interesting and challenging for male scholars is that when Quranic verses appear to discriminate against women, Muslim feminist scholars stress the need to read the Quran within the socio-historical context of seventh-century Arab tribal society. This is indeed revolutionary, for what they press for is to make the distinction between God's will and intent that would, undoubtedly, be just and equalitarian, and the values, mores and habits of an underdeveloped tribal society 13 centuries before ours. There is a potent message in this movement that is the harbinger of enormous change to come. Women are coming!
