Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-02-12-Speech-1-138"
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"en.20070212.15.1-138"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I want to say ‘thank you’ to Mrs Bozkurt for having now presented the second report on behalf of the women’s committee and for her very judicious and expert approach to the subject. The possibility of Turkey joining the European Union means that we in this House must give pride of place to respect for human rights – and in this specific instance women’s rights as an integral element in them – as an indispensable precondition for its accession.
Speaking as a member of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, I see three great blocks on which work is urgently needed. The first is education and the world of work; the unfortunate fact is that the presence of women on the labour market has decreased from 35% in 1998 to 25% today, even though there are hopeful signs in some areas – in the number of women practising as lawyers and physicians, for instance – but, if the Lisbon Strategy’s targets, which include 60% participation of women in the labour market, are to be met, none of this fits together, and, if Turkey wants to be a candidate, it has to be well aware of that. Education is a key to bringing about development and change; unfortunately, particularly in eastern Turkey, a very large number of women are still excluded from it, and 25% of them are still illiterate.
More also needs to be done – and as a matter of urgency – where the combating of violence is concerned. Mr Erdoğan has committed himself to more being done on this front, but that is far from enough; the establishment of women’s refuges would be another step in the right direction, and the public debate on violence against women and ‘honour crimes’ must go on.
Finally, I have an appeal to make in relation to the Turkish elections; it is that there has to be discussion of quotas if Turkey is to continue to make progress. The existing level of women’s participation in parliamentary life – 4% at the national level and 1% in the municipalities – is unsustainable, so urgent action, including such things as a quota system, needs to be taken to deal with this, and that will do a great service not only to women but also to cooperation between Europe and Turkey."@en1
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