Bagis: "Women's rights is a major issue for Turkey's EU reforms"

Speaking in Ankara yesterday at the second meeting of the Civil Society Dialogue, focusing on women's rights and Turkey's European Union accession process, State Minister and chief negotiator for EU talks Egemen Bagis stressed the importance of expanding and protecting women's rights as part of Turkey's EU reform efforts, adding that Turkey had taken remarkable legal strides in recent years to eliminate discrimination against women. Efforts are continuing to ensure that those laws are translated into daily life, he added. He also spoke about a government push for more women's participation in politics, at both the nationwide and local levels, and added that policies and measures to expand and protect women's rights have an expanded place in Turkey's Ninth Development Plan. Touching on a recent European Court of Human Rights decision fining Turkey for failing to protect a Turkish woman from domestic violence and discrimination, Bagis said the fine was undeserved, adding that Turkey's standards to protect women from domestic violence were in line with European ones. Also speaking at the meeting, Education Minister Nimet Cubukcu said one of the most important matters of Turkey's EU reforms and accession negotiations is women's rights and the family. Saying Turkey has made significant progress in ensuring gender equality as part of its EU reforms, she added, "Today Turkey has a judicial framework based on universal norms enabling women to defend their rights before the law. However, these are only preliminary steps. There is much work before us in this respect."