SHARECountry Data
Turkey (Republic of Turkey) has a Unicameral parliament with the use of voluntary party quotas. 101 of 580 (17%) seats in the Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi (T.B.M.M) / Grand National Assembly of Türkiye are held by women.
At a glance
Structure of Parliament: Unicameral
Are there legislated quotas...
- For the Single/Lower House? No
- For the Sub-National Level? No
Are there voluntary quotas...
- Adopted by political parties? Yes
Is there additional information?...
- Yes
Last updated: Feb 28, 2023
Single/Lower House
Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi (T.B.M.M) / Grand National Assembly of Türkiye
| Total seats | 580 |
| Total Women | 101 |
| % Women | 17% |
| Election Year | 2018 |
| Electoral System | List PR |
| Quota Type | No legislated |
| Election details | IDEA Voter Turnout - IPU Parline |
Voluntary Political Party Quotas*
| Party | Official name | Details, Quota provisions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| People´s Democracy Party | Halklarin Demokratik Partisi [HDP] | The People's Democracy Party (HDP) has a gender quota of 50%. "We’re nominating woman candidates from the first spots for each and every local assembly elections across Turkey. We’re enacting the 'zipper system'. As a result, HDP has nominated 39 woman co-chairs for the 39 provinces of Istanbul and a total of 333 women to run for local assemblies." (HDP Official Website). | |
| Good Party | İYİ Parti [İYİ] | In the Central Disciplinary Board and the Provincial Disciplinary Board Member elections, at least twenty -five percent gender quota shall be applied, including original and substitute memberships. | |
| Republican People's Party | Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi [CHP] | Article 56(1) of the party statutes states, "Thirty -three percent (33%) gender quota shall be applied in the candidacy of the deputy, provincial council and municipal council to be determined through the central polls, in the election of the party councils, in the election of the provincial and district board, and in the elections of the provincial congress delegates and congress delegates." |
* Only political parties represented in parliament are included. When a country has legislated quotas in place, only political parties that have voluntary quotas that exceed the percentage/number of the national quota legislation are presented in this table.
Additional Information
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.
Sources
Legal Sources
- Constitution of Turkey (2017) (English version)
- Electoral Law (Turkish version)
- Political Party Law (Turkish)
Other Sources
- HDP Official Website, "Our Labor, Our Bodies, Our Identities and Our Will is Ours!", Accessed 3 October 2018
- Tajali, M. 2015. "The promise of gender parity: Turkey’s People’s Democratic Party (HDP)", Published 29 October 2015, Accessed 3 October 2018.
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Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU Parline Turkey
Additional reading
- See the latest updates on Türkiye on iKNOW Politics
- Yildirim, K. & Kocapinar, G. (2019) Untangling the gender gap: nomination and representativeness in Turkish local elections, Turkish Studies, 20:2, 222-248, DOI: 10.1080/14683849.2018.1553621
- Bektas, E., & Issever-Ekinci, E. (2019). Who Represents Women in Turkey? An Analysis of Gender Difference in Private Bill Sponsorship in the 2011–15 Turkish Parliament. Politics & Gender, 15(4), 851-881. doi:10.1017/S1743923X18000363