Introduction to the ALDE seminar on Women in Turkey: Progress and Challenges International Women's Day - 8th of March 2006

Speech delivered on Wed 8th Mar 2006

"Ties between Turkey and Europe have rarely been as close as they are today - nor the prospects for co-operation greater.

I am referring not just to October's historic decision to open the EU accession process after decades of negotiation.

Though that is the greatest concrete symbol of this bond.

I am alluding also to Liberal values of freedom, democracy, and Human Rights which are increasingly shared on either side of the Aegean.

For history teaches us that we are "In uno plures" - many in one.

Before wars and walls drove our continent asunder Europe's rich and varied mosaic encompassed citizens of the West, the Ottoman and the Austro-Hungarian Empires.

What joins us together now are the fundamental values enjoined by the Treaties and demonstrated through fulfilment of the Copenhagen Criteria as opposed to any dominant religion, ethnicity, or culture.

Turkey can have a place in this Europe of Values, as Liberals and Democrats have long argued.

Perhaps that is because Liberalism is a philosophy capable of straddling cultural difference and embracing plurality by seeking to free individuals from theocracy, oppression, poverty and the social pressure to conform.

In that regard Turkey has come a long way since it first applied for full membership of the EEC in 1987.

A virtual tidal wave of legislation has revolutionised the country's legal landscape,

• from abolition of the death penalty,

• to establishing a woman's inalienable right to work

• - and perhaps most significantly - bringing Turkey's Penal Code and Constitution largely into line with International norms.

However I say largely because I mean largely.

Ataturk used to say, "never be afraid of telling the truth."

The Turkey that will join the European Union is not the Turkey of today but the Turkey of tomorrow.

It will be a nation founded fully on the rule of law, human rights and religious freedom, which has had the courage to break with militarist tradition and to stabilise relations with its ethnic minorities and its neighbours.

While the Government has successfully implemented a number of reforms adopted in 2002 and 03, reduced incidences of torture and ill-treatment of detainees, and even allowed the start-up of Kurdish language courses and broadcasting - albeit under tight restrictions - there is still a long way to go.

I am particularly concerned about Article 301 of the new Penal Code which prohibits denigration of Turkishness, the Republic, and the foundation and institutions of the State - and poses a serious threat to freedom of expression.

Only in December last year an Istanbul Court sentenced Fatih Tas to six months imprisonment for publishing the book 'They Say You are Missing'.

And while the case against Orhan Pamuk has finally been dropped I would reiterate Amnesty International's concerns that those of lesser-known individuals like Murat Belge and Ismet Berkan may continue in relative obscurity.

Should Turkey lack the political will to:

• allow intellectuals to analyse and criticise its historical past,

• reach a comprehensive settlement on the Cyprus issue and

• fully respect Human Rights - especially the rights of and its Kurdish minority and of women

it can never accede to the European Union.

The fact that it is International Women's Day should concentrate our minds on the latter.

I sincerely hope we witness no repeat of last year's brutality, when the Istanbul police broke up a demonstration to mark International Women's Day.

There is no place for such violence in Modern Turkey.

No state violence and no domestic violence.

In this, Turkey's record is a national scandal.

Amnesty International estimates that half of all Turkish women may be victims of violence, often perpetrated in the name of family 'honour'.

Millions have been beaten in their homes and many others raped, killed and even forced to commit suicide.

Pleased as we must all be that the Turkish government passed legislation mandating tougher penalties for domestic abuse, protection for battered women and the creation of more shelters there is still a major implementation gap.

These women have literally nowhere to go. For a population of 70 million, there exist only 13 women's shelters.

Added to this the fact that more than half a million girls do not attend school each year and political representation amongst women in Turkey remains at a worryingly low 4.4% and there are serious implications for Turkey's EU dream.

To a Liberal Democrat, gender equality is not a "woman's problem". A freer, society - like that which Turkey is building - is one where every citizen enjoys the maximum scope for self-development, encouraged but not obliged to participate in society, guided but not shepherded by the State.

We agree with the Ottoman writer Narik Kemal who - 140 years ago - wrote "women are not inferior to men in their intellectual and physical capacities. In ancient times they shared in all men's activities, including even war. In the countryside they still share in the work of agriculture and trade. Many evil consequences result from their social position, the first being that it leads to a bad upbringing for their children".

That is why today's Hearing 'Women in Turkey - Progress and Challenges' is so important.

I am looking forward to learning from our distinguished speakers what role female participation in business and the workplace is playing in elevating the status of women.

It may well be that the EU has something to learn from the Turkish experience in this area- especially since it was Turkey that appointed the world's first female Supreme Court justice.

Indeed, female emancipation has been one of the major tenets of the Modern Turkish state ever since its inception, when Ataturk's reforms abolished polygamy, recognized the equal rights of women in divorce, custody, and inheritance and made the entire educational system co-educational.

A process which culminated in the election of Tansu Ciller as Prime Minister in 1993 - only 14 years after Margaret Thatcher and light years ahead of the USA, which has still never had a female head of executive.

Europe does have a tendency to crow about its achievements even though the wage gap between men and women in Europe is anywhere between 16 and 33%.

In fact, on 8th March last year the European Parliament was moved to pass a resolution condemning the total lack of progress in implementing the principle of equal pay for equal work introduced thirty years ago by Directive 75/117/EEC.

As someone who has spent much of this life in the corporate world I firmly believe that of the thousand and one areas in which society must learn to give women their due, none is so important as the dignity and independence that comes from freedom to work, and be paid, as equals.

And as someone who has spent the remaining portion of this life in politics, I understand that there can be no true democracy without gender equality.

Without women involved in politics we won't get enough of the policies that women want and need.

I am sure that the organiser of this event, Karin Riis-Jorgensen MEP (and one of the 3 women Vice Presidents of ALDE) will have more to say on this matter.

So without wishing to preserve any longer the stereotype of an older, white male dominating proceedings I will close my introductory remarks by welcoming all the participants and wishing you all a happy and productive International Women's Day. And by recognising publicly that while the cock does the crowing it is invariably the hen who delivers the goods.