49 Men and 5 Women to Bolster Turkey's “Left”

A meeting was held in Ankara and its goal was discussing about opportunities of forming common struggles in the left. Many participators from different organizations took part in the meeting; however, low number of women participators was conspicuous. 49 out of participators were men and 5 out of them were women.

Freedom and Solidarity Party Co-chair (ÖDP) Bilge Seçkin Çetinkaya talked to bianet and emphasized the importance of the meeting in terms of the left movement:

“In the middle of 1990s, the public space of the left was dynamic. In 2000s, this space became smaller. From this point of view, I think this meeting was important.

“It is obviously important to get organized with the oppressed apart from organizing as the left. Unity in the left will gain its importance when it starts to be in solidarity with the other oppressed.”

“The left should renovate itself”

Having stated that low number of women participators is related to the male dominance in the society, ÖDP Co-chair added:

“Some were invited to the meeting and they couldn’t manage to participate. But, of course, it can’t justify the low number of women participators. Unless we get rid of the male dominance in our mentality, there will be no increase in number of women in the left. For this reason, the left should renovate itself.

“It should create mechanisms for problem-solution. There are less women among the high ranking executives in the society and it is also same for the left-hand organizations. We, as organized women in the left, struggle for eliminating this situation. But, unfortunately we cannot be different from the whole society.” (ÇT/MUY/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.