Political parties across the spectrum, EŞİK said, often placed female candidates in positions on electoral lists that meant they were unlikely to make it into parliament but still required work from women to campaign.ĮŞİK also found that many parties were fielding no female candidates on many of their lists across provinces nationwide. The Women’s Platform for Equality (EŞİK), a feminist coalition, found that leftwing parties were far more likely to field female candidates, but no party managed gender parity in any of its electoral lists. Photograph: Sedat Suna/EPAĪkşener has spoken openly of Turkey’s need to return to the Istanbul convention, but has been more cautious on gay rights, stating that while she would be unhappy with a gay child she was also against violence towards LGBTQ+ people. Women are rare in senior leadership positions, barring Meral Akşener, head of the nationalist İYİ party, who has maintained her political appeal through a largely rightwing base.Ī woman walks past a campaign vehicle for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development party in Istanbul this month. “The parties in his bloc want the closure of LGBTQ rights organisations, and activists could be arrested over claims that they’re spreading what they call propaganda.”ĭespite plenty of highly visible female candidates as well as a handful of openly trans candidates standing for the Workers’ party of Turkey, representation has some way to go. “We’ve seen cases where the LGBTQ flag was treated as something illegal,” she says. “LGBTQ rights are considered human rights in a changing world, but this concept doesn’t exist in Turkey.”Īn Erdoğan victory, says Akbulut, risks formalising into policy the kind of hatred that the president has deployed on the campaign trail, and legitimising attacks on gay rights, particularly the right to organise. “For us, this election is critical,” says Zarife Akbulut, of the LGBTQ+ rights group SPoD (Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association). We’re dealing with a hazardous environment, where women and LGBTQ people are attacked Gülsüm Kav, We Will Stop Femicide They say Erdoğan’s re-election risks further fuelling a culture war that he and his supporters have done much to inflame, empowering institutions to crack down on anyone seen as different and to turn a blind eye to a statewide problem of violence against women, gay and trans people. Erdoğan has withdrawn Turkey from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul convention on violence against women and pushed a conservative vision of family values while attacking groups that defend women and queer rights.įor many Turkish women and the LGBTQ+ community, the forthcoming vote represents a stark choice. When Turkish voters go to the polls in parliamentary and presidential elections on 14 May, LGBTQ+ rights as well as women’s rights will be on the ballot. 14:46 The forgotten earthquake survivors that could decide Erdogan’s fate – video
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