The Association of Women Workers (EKD) assembled at the Chamber of Mechanical Engineers in Beyoğlu, Istanbul, yesterday (27 January) to speak to the press. The occasion was the upcomingWomen's Day on 8 March and theTurkish local elections on 29 March.
An association representative read a statement in which she asked which promises made to women prior to the general elections in July 2007 had been kept.
She added that they wanted to participate in politics as workers and women, and demanded quotas in the local authorities.
A further demand was a ban on the dismissal of workers, currently on the increase.
The meeting was attended by MP Sabahat Tuncel of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), as well as representatives from a trade union for textile workers (Tekstil Sen) and the Socialist Party for the Oppressed (ESP).
The association has made the following demands:
The statement also called for alternative reports concerning the punishment of sexual crimes, for a withdrawal of the General Health and Social Insurance Law, for an end to gender discrimination in education and for equal pay for equal work. (EZÖ/AG)