Turkey: Women and Politics | European Journal

In Turkey, women have traditionally played little role in politics. But this is starting to change and approximately 80 female candidates are hoping to secure at seat in parliament at the upcoming elections in June.At the last elections in 2007, the number of women in the Turkish parliament went up from 4 to 9 percent and the figure is set to rise dramatically this time round. One of the highest-profile candidates is Emine Ülker Tarhan, a former judge at the Court of Appeals in Ankara. She stepped down in protest at what she sees as the government's attempts to undermine freedom of opinion and destroy the independence of the Turkish judiciary.