Additional information about gender quotas
Turkey
Answer
Yes
Comment
In 1999 the Republican People’s Party (CHP) adopted a twenty five percent (25%) quota for its candidate list and its internal structures, with the exception of the party’s highest decision making organ called “Party Central Executive Committee”. In March 2012, CHP increased the quota to thirty three percent (33%) and also applied the quota to its candidate lists for the national and the sub-national elections. However, these voluntary candidate quotas concern only 15% of the total number of candidates on the candidate list which are chosen by the party’s central committee and not the entire lists. The rest 85% of candidates on the list is filled through primary elections held in districts.
Historically the first political party which adopted voluntarily gender quotas back in 1994 was a small socialist party called Birleşik Sosyalist Parti (United Socialist Party) which became the Özgürlük ve Demokrasi Partisi (ÖDP, Freedom and Democracy Party) in 1996.
Following the 2023 parliamentary elections, Women's representation in the Turkish Parliament will be the highest level in history, as121 women secured seats in the 600-member Parliament. The female representation rate, which was 17.1% in the previous elections, rose to 20.1% this year.
