Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women examines report of Turkey

Committee on the Elimination 
  of Discrimination against Women

13 July 2016

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today considered the seventh periodic report of Turkey on its implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Gülser Ustaoğlu, General Director on the Status of Women, Ministry of Family and Social Policies, introducing the report, said that Turkey had criminalized hate crimes and amended a number of laws which strengthened the prevention of discrimination.  It also expanded the mandate of the National Human Rights and Equality Institution in 2016 to include anti-discrimination matters.  Turkey was among the first countries to ratify the Istanbul Convention, which was the basis of the Law 6284 on protection of family and preventing violence against women.  The participation of women in decision-making mechanisms was increasing each year, but it was still not at the desired level.  Progress was being made in addressing illiteracy and increasing school enrolment rates for girls, and in reducing maternal mortality throughout the country.  Turkey maintained an open door policy and extended protection to all those fleeing war and conflicts, and provided more than two and a half million Syrians, who were under temporary protection, with opportunities and services on a par with Turkish citizens.  Turkey called upon other countries to do their share for humanity.

In the dialogue that followed, Committee Experts commended the Turkish people and the Government for their generous support to the millions who were fleeing war in Syria.  Turkey was the first country to have ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, but there was a concern about a diminishing commitment to the core principles of gender equality and regression from the commitment to the rights of women.  Contrary to the international obligations of Turkey, the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination did not include sexual orientation and gender identity, and Experts were concerned about continuing discriminatory practices such as early and forced marriages, honour crimes, bride price, female genital mutilation, to name a few.  Experts also inquired about the situation of Syrian women and girls in relation to granting of the protection status and accessing basic services, and asked about the protection against sexual exploitation, trafficking in persons and the rampant practice of early and forced marriages of refugee girls.  The resumption of hostilities with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in southeast Turkey had displaced large number of Kurds, and Experts were very alarmed by human rights violations including the use of sexual violence against Kurdish women as a weapon of war.

In concluding remarks, Ms. Ustaoğlu said that the dialogue demonstrated the progress Turkey had made in the implementation of the Convention and highlighted the areas where more work was needed. 

The delegation of Turkey included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Family and Social Policies, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, and the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Live webcast of country reviews is available at http://www.treatybodywebcast.org.

The Committee will reconvene in public on Thursday, 14 July, at 10 a.m. to consider the combined eighth and ninth periodic reports of Uruguay (CEDAW/C/URY/8-9).
 
Report

The seventh periodic report of Turkey can be read here: CEDAW/C/TUR/7.
 
Presentation of the Report

GÜLSER USTAOĞLU, General Director on the Status of Women at the Ministry of Family and Social Policies, said that, although Turkey had been receiving extensive migration for the past few years and was also engaged in a fight against terrorism, it had not compromised its reform process and the approach to ensuring human rights for everyone without discrimination.  The Constitution guaranteed equality of everyone before the law, while the 2010 constitutional amendment had allowed for temporary special measures to prevent discrimination against women, children, disabled and the elderly, and recognized the right to individually appeal to the Constitutional Court.  Turkey had adopted a legal reform package which amended a number of laws in order to prevent discrimination, including the Criminal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Anti-Terrorism Law, and Press Law.  Hate crime was criminalized and carried heavy penalties.  The National Human Rights Institution set up in 2012 had been restructured in 2016 as the National Human Rights and Equality Institution, with the mandate for anti-discrimination and equality matters.  The institution of the Ombudsman had been set up in 2012, including an auditor responsible for issues of women and children.  Turkey continued its engagement in tackling various terrorist groups and in delivering on its responsibility to protect citizens and preserve security and public order.  The human rights were integrated in the fight against terrorism and victims of terrorist attacks were compensated by the State. 

Turning to the rights of women, Ms. Ustaoğlu said that the Ministry for Family and Social Policies had been set up in 2011 to prevent discrimination against women; its General Directorate on the Status of Women was the national mechanism in charge of making the policy, providing quality social service, and preventing all types of violence and discrimination against women.  Turkey was among the first countries to ratify the Istanbul Convention, which was the basis of the Law 6284 on protection of family and preventing violence against women.  Violence monitoring and preventing centres, providing services based on one-stop-shop system, had been established in 47 provinces nation-wide, while 137 guest-houses for women, considered to be one of the fundamental element in the fight against violence against women, had been set up by the local authorities and non-governmental organizations.  The third National Action Plan for Combatting Violence against Women 2016-2019 would focus on areas of reform, including increasing the effectiveness of legal regulations, raising awareness and transforming mentality, providing protective and preventive services and empowering victims of violence, regulating and implementing health services, and developing policies for inter-institutional cooperation.  Turkey was aware that discrimination against women and violence against women could not be eliminated though legal and administrative regulations only, and stressed the crucial role of awareness raising and training of professionals. 

Whereas the participation of women in decision-making mechanisms was increasing each year, it was still not at a desired level, while temporary special measures such as conditional education cash transfers had seen an increase of enrolment of girls in schools.  Visible success had been achieved in reducing maternal mortality rates, which would remain to be a fundamental objective in the area of women’s health.  Turkey was maintaining an open door policy by protecting all those who had to leave their homeland as a result of the war, and was providing more than two and a half million Syrians, who were under temporary protection, with the same opportunities and services offered to Turkish citizens.  Turkey called on the countries of the world to do their share for humanity.

Questions from Experts

An Expert commended Turkey for promoting the Istanbul Convention and for being the first country to have ratified it.  There were come concerns about Turkey’s commitments to the core principles of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, such as rejection of gender equality and replacing it with terms gender equity or justice for women, or the prevailing view of women through their role in the family, while the restructuring and reorganization of the Ministry for Women and changing its name to Ministry for Families was not merely the change in name.  The Expert asked why the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination did not include sexual orientation and gender identity, bearing in mind Turkey’s commitments to the Istanbul Convention, and whether there was a prospect of broadening a conceptual basis in the anti-discrimination law.  Under the Article 19 of the Constitution, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was the law of  the land, along with all other international instruments ratified by Turkey, but there was a concern about integration of its provisions in relevant laws.  The Expert also raised a concern about several other discriminatory practices, such as enabling virginity tests without women’s consent and on the basis of the judicial order, and the requirement for married women to have consent of the husband for abortion.

Another Expert expressed condolences to the people of Turkey for the lives lost in the recent terrorist attacks and commended Turkey for the generous support it had been providing to refugees and migrants.  While refugee camps had been extremely well organized, there were some concerns in relation to the acceleration of granting of the protection status, and also in ensuring access to education, employment, and housing for refugees and asylum seekers.  What budgets had been allocated for the care of refugee women?

Replies by the Delegation

Turkey had ratified the Istanbul Convention and had accepted the obligation to ensure protection against discrimination also on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.  A delegate confirmed that international human rights instruments had precedence over national laws and recalled that the Constitution prohibited discrimination and guaranteed equality of everyone before the law.  It was legal to terminate pregnancy before the tenth week and there were no plans  to change that legal provision. 

Turkey provided access to basic services and information in Arabic to Syrian refugees and had put in place various training programmes; more than 100,000 refugees had received psychosocial support, and there were 37 humanitarian programmes for refugee camps.  There were also programmes for children outside of camps, such as peer learning programmes in 20 provinces, through which 16,000 children had been reached, programmes to raise awareness about children’s rights, hotlines for children in Turkish and Arabic, and 227,000 unaccompanied children had been provided with necessary services.

There were no barriers for Syrian refugee children in accessing education, and in 2015/16 school year, a total of 219,000 refugee children had been enrolled in Turkish schools.  There were almost three million Syrian refugees in Turkey, and they were under temporary protection status.  The Government had put in place special provisions to enable them to access employment and labour market, including through the information about work in Turkey.  Non-governmental organizations were included in legislative activities, programme design and implementation, and were important stakeholders.  The International Protection Law of Turkey recognized individuals with special needs, such as unaccompanied children, pregnant women, or victims of torture.  They were provided with a range of services, including legal aid, while those under temporary protection status could access services provided by non-governmental organizations.

Gynaecological examinations were regulated by the Criminal Procedure Law, under which the judicial decision was required for any examination of the genitalia or anus, and for obtaining forensic samples and evidence. 

University students received training on equality between women and men, while judges and prosecutors also received training on violence against women and gender equality.  The Academy for Judges, the primary judicial training institution in the country, provided training on domestic and family violence, on investigation of cases of domestic violence, and other provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Questions from Experts

Committee Experts expressed sympathy for the people of Turkey who suffered terrorist violence, and appreciated the opening of the doors to the massive influx of refugees from neighbouring countries. 

With regard to the national gender machinery, an Expert said that the restructuring of the Ministry for Women in 2011 and renaming it to the Ministry for Family seemed to be a regression from the commitment to the rights of women.  There was a concern about the extensive focus of the Ministry and its General Directorate for the Status of Women on women as part of the family and not as individuals.  Would Turkey consider strengthening the machinery, providing it with the necessary resources and thus enabling it to function as defined by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women?  The National Human Rights and Equality Institution, despite the fact that it had been given an anti-discrimination mandate, still fell short of complying with the Paris Principles.  How was Turkey working with civil society organizations and how was it implementing the United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security?

There were no temporary special measures to promote political participation and representation of women, and very few political parties had taken steps to increase participation of women.  The delegation was asked whether obligatory temporary special measures would be introduced for political parties, if officials had been trained in the diversity and the wide range of temporary special measures, and when those measures would be applied to  disadvantaged women.
 
Replies by the Delegation

In Turkey, non-governmental organizations were a valued partner of the Government, and measures were in place to increase the capacity of civil society organizations through the provision of training and resources for programmes in the area of the rights of women.  Turkey faced very intense terrorist activities and the fight was underway against internationally recognized terrorist organizations which attacked the right to life.  People who were affected by anti-terrorist operations were not displaced, but had to move away from their homes for a very short time; they were compensated by the State, which provided support in accessing education, building homes, and returning to their neighbourhoods and livelihoods once anti-terrorism operations had been completed.

The National Action Plan for Gender Equality 2012-2015 had been implemented in eight key areas; the action plan for the next period was being prepared, and would be implemented upon the completion of the restructuring of the Ministry.  The new action plan would focus on gender equality, as well as legislation on violence against children, fighting the phenomena and providing services to the victims of violence.  At the moment, Turkey was deliberating drafting of a national action plan for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.

Since 2002, the number of women represented in the Parliament had been on the increase.  Certain measures had been taken to promote participation of women in politics.  Turkey had adopted temporary special measures, particularly for women and children, such as conditional cash transfers for education of girls from poor families, conditional cash transfers for health, and regular payments to widows.  So far, 1.1 million girls had received more than USD 200 million in conditional cash transfers.  Support for families of the victims of terrorism included psychosocial support, house rental grants and short-term accommodation in hotels, school enrolment for children, food assistance and small grants for expenses.  The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women had been translated and published on the website to the Ministry, while all Committee’s decisions were taken into consideration by the Ministry.

Follow-up Questions and Responses

In their follow-up questions, Committee Experts asked whether international cooperation for refugees was sufficient and whether investigations had already started in war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against refugees, particularly women.  Turkey was currently discussing a bill on granting Turkish nationality to refugees, and the delegation was asked how women were included in those discussions.  The cooperation with civil society organizations seemed to be more at the level of information sharing, and Experts stressed the need for a qualitative interaction with civil society organizations and more inclusiveness of all types of civil society organizations, including secular ones. 

With regard to access to justice for women, particularly women from diverse linguistic backgrounds, an Expert asked about the situation of Kurdish women in accessing courts and the police in all issues related  to violence and discrimination.  What measures were in place to protect refugee women and children from sexual exploitation?  Would Turkey provide pro bono legal aid to women, and which groups would be eligible for it?

In their answers to the follow-up questions, members of the delegation stressed the need of all stakeholders to take measures to protect all women and girls from sexual violence in armed conflicts, and said that support services had been put in place for Syrian refugee women and girls in Turkey who had been victims of gender-based violence.  In terms of access to justice, a delegate explained that Turkey was a law-based country and all citizens who could not cover their legal cost could access legal aid provided by the State.  In order to ensure the full right of everyone to defend themselves in the court of law, law had been changed to allow the use of defendants’ own language, which also included the Kurdish language.  Kurdish women could file their complaints on human rights violations to the Ombudsmen, the Constitutional Court or the European Court for Human Rights.

Turkey fully cooperated with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria established by the international community, which had been mandated with investigating all alleged violations of international human rights law in that country.

The delegation informed that Turkey maintained an open door policy with regard to refugees from Syria, and had so far spent more than USD 11 billion on hosting them and providing a range of services including access to education and employment, housing and social protection.  The granting of nationality to Syrian refugees was under the discussion at the moment.  The open door policy meant that people fleeing the conflict in Syria were received without any prejudice or obstacle, and that generosity and humanitarian position of Turkey was also being extended into granting nationality.  Following the announcements by some humanitarian organizations about sexual exploitation of refugees, made in 2014, a commission had been established to examine the allegations.

A delegate stressed that migration in Turkey was managed by civilian authorities, in stark difference to a number of other countries.  The Law on Foreigners and International Protection had been adopted in 2013, in the midst of the refugee crisis; it was a visionary piece of legislation, hailed by the United Nations Refugee Agency and shown as an example to countries that were not parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention.  The granting of nationality to Syrian citizens, particularly educated and qualified ones, was an extension of Turkish generosity, and Turkey believed that it would be able to find modes of coexistence with the Syrians.  It was important to emphasize that Turkey was providing refugees with free health services and free education in their own language and in their own curricula; for that, it was a must to have Syrian doctors and teachers.  Such philosophy and approach would be fundamental in preparing the people to return and rebuild their country.

Legally, no one could be forced to have a virginity test or to demand a virginity test on another individual; doing so was a felony.

Questions from Experts

An Expert recalled that Turkey was a party to two key international instruments on the elimination of discrimination and violence against women, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Istanbul Convention, both of which stressed the necessity to reform social and cultural stereotypes based on racial inferiority or superiority in order to achieve gender equality.  What was being done, in law and in practice, to change the societal attitudes related to superiority of one sex over another, and to eliminate harmful traditional practices, such as early and child marriage, female genital mutilation, sexual exploitation of refugees, polygamy, and others?

The modern Turkey was based on the principle of laicity and had formally embraced gender equality, but the principle had been confronted with growing conservative currents in the society.  Those trends included condemnation of abortion, and calling into question access to family planning.  Maintaining stereotypes which were linked to very strong patriarchal attitudes put in question the situation of women in the society and their participation in politics, public life and work, all  of which had been strongly linked with the progress Turkey had achieved in the past. 

The delegation was asked about the civil society organizations and human rights defenders who challenged that situation.  Was the secular philosophy still at the heart of the society, particularly in the judiciary who had the power to shape the societal beliefs? Question was also asked about media campaigns on reinforcing the role of women and combatting any and all negative practices such as polygamy. 

Experts asked about the activities undertaken to fight trafficking in persons, particularly refugees and migrants who were particularly vulnerable to trafficking.  What measures were in place to provide protection for people living in the camps, and also to ensure that Syrians under temporary protection who had the right to work, were protected from labour exploitation and slavery-like working conditions?  What steps were being in place to address the rampant forced marriage of young refugee girls, which put them at risk of being trafficked or being in polygamous marriages?
 
Replies by the Delegation

Turkey had in place a system which provided a range of services to victims of domestic violence and violence against women, including access to shelters, day care centres for children, psychosocial support, legal aid, access to formal and informal education, monitoring of protection orders, and others.  At the moment, there were centres for violence prevention and monitoring in 47 provinces, and  there were plans to expand the coverage to 81 provinces.  In the framework of the year of fight against violence against women, a number of public awareness raising activities had been undertaken in order to change the mentality and eliminate stereotypes which led to violence against women.  Under the Preventing Violence against Women project, training had been provided to religious leaders, media, university and school administrators, and others. 

Administrative measures had been put in place to prevent early and child marriage, and a strategy on the issue had also been adopted; a temporary special measure of conditional cash transfer for education of girls was one of the measures intended to keep girls in school and so prevent early marriage.  Families and communities had been receiving training since 1993 on the harm caused by early marriages, among other issues.

A Department for Victims of Human Trafficking had been set up, which provided services and support to victims.  Provincial trafficking experts assessed the risk of trafficking and actively identified victims, while those persons at risk of trafficking were not deported.  The inter-ministerial Commission on Combatting Human Trafficking met in February every year.  This year, some 1,200 persons had been identified as victims of trafficking, and provided with safe and peaceful environment in shelter, health and psychosocial support, access to social services and legal aid, vocational training and access to labour market, and cash assistance.  There was also a programme on voluntary and safe return of victims of trafficking to their country of origin or to a third country.  A hotline accessible 24/7 had been put in place to help foreigners who were victims of trafficking, and in which they could seek help in six languages, ask questions about first aid to victims of trafficking, and raise any other issues in which they needed help, including immediate safety and protection.  The Ministry of the Interior was in charge of tackling the human trafficking and human smuggling and had set up in January 2016 a new Department for Human Trafficking.  The new border legislation about smuggling and trafficking issues was now in place, and, thanks to it, some 1,800 traffickers had been arrested in 2015. 

The new 2016 law gave the possibility to refugees to apply for employment and so increase the protection from labour exploitation.  Inspection boards were looking into informal and unregistered employment and were heavily punishing offenders.  Syrians were allowed to take registered employment which offered a guaranteed minimum pay at least.

Sex workers could only work in properly licensed places.  They were certified and had regular medical examinations.  Individuals could engage in prostitution outside of the framework of certified sex workers, freely and on their own accord, and in such cases, the police could not get involved.  The police involvement would only happen if there was an element of coercion.  It was important to say that the investigation of forced prostitution had to be headed by a prosecutor. 

In the follow-up questions, Experts also asked about the protection of Syrian teenagers from trafficking and the sanctions imposed on perpetrators.  Bride price continued to be paid in many regions, which served as an incentive to marry off girls early, and girls also were married to their rapists in order to preserve family honour.  Very lenient and light sanctions for perpetrators of crimes of violence against women, including early and forced marriages, gang rapes and honour killings, delivered by the judiciary, contributed to the culture of impunity.

Responding, a delegate said that the Penal Code considered honour killing as being one of the most severe crimes; it was also considered as intentional killing and there was no chance for the offender to benefit from a “provocation element” which could lighten their sentence. 

Early marriages were discouraged by very heavy penalties for the perpetrators of sexual intercourse with children.  Syrian children forced into early marriage were considered victims of trafficking and received due protection and services.  It was important to mention a new legal provision, which considered victims of trafficking all those persons who were victims of labour of sexual exploitation, forced into marriage, or given up for adoption by force; such cases with dealt with by the police in close cooperation with the Department for Human Trafficking.

Questions from Experts

Following the most recent general elections, the political representation of women had fallen to its 2011 levels of 14.9 per cent, while only one Minister out of 26 was a woman.  What were the reasons behind such low participation of women in political life and which steps, including temporary special measures, were being taken to accelerate equality between women and men in politics?  Only 37 out of more than 1,300 mayors were women – what action would be taken to improve participation of women in public life?

Replies by the Delegation

Generally speaking, women’s participation in public life was steadily increasing and women currently held 81 posts in the Parliament, or 15 per cent.  Political parties were taking measures to improve participation of women, such as waiving membership fees, giving priority to women, and others.  The Parliamentary Commission of Male-Female Equality was implementing a project for gender equality in political leadership, and through which female candidates were being encouraged.  In universities, women represented 43 per cent of students, 29 per cent of professors, and more than 40 per cent of PhD candidates.  Further, 37 of the 232 ambassadors  were women, 21 of the 35 Deputy Directors General or Deputy Ambassadors were women; three governors and 12 deputy governors were also women, and in the judiciary, women  represented 27 per cent of the 30,000 judges. 

Questions from Experts

With regard to access to education, there was a concern about 28 per cent of girls aged 16 to 19 who were out of school, and 49 per cent of girls aged 20 to 24 who were not receiving any education at all.  What temporary special measures, and other measures were in place to support the progression of girls from primary to secondary school, and then on to high school?  What was the number of students in home schooling, what was the progression rate of home schooled students, and what system was in place to monitor the progress and impact of home schooling?  Other concerns were related to barriers in access to school for refugee girls and the fact that 14 per cent of refugee girls were married, as well as the lack of educational opportunities of girls with disabilities, including refugee girls.

Another Expert recognized the positive impact of policies on the growing participation of women in paid work, and noted with concern that the rates of female employment were well below the European average.  The delegation was asked about measures to accelerate employment of women and to address gender pay gaps that existed in all areas of employment; the situation of women in wool, carpet and fashion industry, violation of rights of women and children in the value chain; and how the banning of veil had impacted the participation of women in employment, particularly in the public services sector.
Free contraceptive policy and the implementation of the abortion law were facing pressure from high level political statements, including remarks that birth control was inappropriate and was not for Muslim families.  Limited access of Kurdish women to reproductive and prenatal health was another issue of concern.  The delegation was asked what was being done to address the gap in legislation on abortion and its implementation, and the measures taken to ensure that current legal provisions on abortion and reproductive health were implemented in all health structures and for all people in Turkey.

Replies by the Delegation

Responding to the questions and comments made by the Committee Experts, a delegate explained that education in Turkey, both in its qualitative and quantitative terms, was steadily increasing.  In 2015/16 school year, 96 per cent of girls were enrolled in primary school, versus 80 per cent for boys.  The main objective with regards to education of Syrian children in Turkey was to increase school enrolment of school-aged children.  Recently, it had been reported that 162,000 Syrian girls and 161,000 Syrian boys were enrolled in schools in Turkey.

Turkey was adopting resolute measures to deal with structural problems and obstacles to the employment of women, and had put in place strategies to achieve its aim of 40 per cent employment rate for women in the formal sector.  Women victims of violence were prioritized in work placement, received guidance by employment councillors and participated in vocational training to increase their employable skills.  The legislation provided women with special rights in the area of social protection, taxation rates applicable to women, and lower social protection rates for self-employed women working from home.  The minimum wage was a must for all workers in Turkey, except for home-based workers.

In Turkey, citizens did not face discrimination based on their background, and everyone enjoyed their equal rights.  All women had full and equal access to health services, including Kurdish women.  Around 97 per cent of women received prenatal care and gave birth in hospitals, while maternal mortality rates had been significantly reduced.

 Questions from Experts

Committee Experts were very alarmed by a large number internally displaced Kurds due to the resumption of hostilities in southeast Turkey and by the activities of Daesh, as well as about rape and sexual violence against Kurdish women.  What steps would Turkey take to address that situation and ensure return of stability?  Would Turkey accept an appointment of an independent commission to investigate international human rights law violations committed by all parties in this conflict, including sexual violence committed by the Turkish Armed Forces?  What steps were being take to investigate, prosecute and punish  violations of human rights of women in southeast Turkey and to prevent further violations?  

The delegation was also asked about the inclusion and integration of women with disabilities, the situation of women in detention, protection of persons from violence and discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity including by categorizing those crimes as hate crimes.  

Replies by the Delegation

The delegation stated that Turkey had been struggling against bloody acts of terror for many years and was doing its utmost to provide security and public order.  In southeast Turkey, there were temporary curfews, and all human rights violations were being immediately dealt with by the Ministry of the Interior.  All victims of terrorism could access the State’s support services, while family support centres provided support for women, particularly disadvantaged and poor women.  Families of persons with disabilities were prioritized and could access various support services at their homes or specialized centres. 

There was only one reality in Turkey and that was of an internationally recognized terrorist organization conducting bloody acts.  Turkey was combatting the group and terrorism it was creating.  Curfews were being established to ensure return to public order.  Turkey was as sensitive as possible in its counter-terrorism operations, and civilians in those areas could access hotlines and services they needed.  The legality of curfew announcements was not in question, and anyone could appeal against those to the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights.

Another delegate stressed that the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists had violated the terms of the agreement by killing two police officers.  Democracy, rule of law and human rights were fundamental values in Turkey, and human life was not cheap, so the Turkish Army applied the utmost vigilance in the conduct of its counter-terrorism operations.  The Kurdish Workers’ Party had been listed as a terrorist organization by many countries an regional organizations, including the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.  As a result of its terrorism, since its inception in the 1970s, some 40,000 persons had lost their lives; the organization was also known to use children as a human shield.  Turkey strongly rejected all allegations about human rights violations committed by its Army in the context of counterterrorism.

The Gendarmerie was in charge of maintaining peace and security in rural areas, and was also in charge of tackling violence against rural women and domestic violence.  Employment of women in rural areas was a priority, and as of 2014, there had been more than 300,000 female farmers; rural women were supported in establishing their own cooperatives.  So far, 54 such cooperatives had been set up and the work was now being done on evaluating their impact.

Questions from Experts

A Committee Expert was very disturbed about the recommendations contained in the report of the parliamentary report on divorce, and asked about the prospect of that report becoming a law.  It was now possible for married women to use their own surname, but it required a women to file a case at the court.  Would that provision be amended? 

In a series of follow-up questions, Committee Experts asked about the impact of the national plan on HIV/AIDS and whether the plan would be extended. 

They fully recognized the right of the State Party to fight terrorism and ensure security, and stressed the need to ensure that in that process, human rights were respected.  Strict compliance with international human rights law and international humanitarian law would be ensured if Turkey allowed an independent investigation into alleged human rights violations in the context of counter-terrorism, which would also be one sure way to allay the concerns of the Committee in that regard.

Replies by the Delegation

A delegate explained that women in correctional facilities could partake in a number of training and rehabilitation programmes.  There were also programmes in place to support children aged zero to six who were staying in correctional facilities with their mothers. 
The Ministry of Health was working on the new action plan to address HIV/ADIS. 
Syrian children could  receive education in their own language, using their own books and their own teachers.

Democracy, rule of law and human rights were fundamental pillars in Turkey, and the delegation reiterated that the Army fully respected human rights in their anti-terrorism operations.  It was not acceptable to express political disagreement with violence; political disagreements should be expressed in the Parliament, which in Turkey was very representative.

Concluding Remarks

GÜLSER USTAOĞLU, General Director on the Status of Women, Ministry of Family and Social Policies, said that the interactive dialogue demonstrated the progress Turkey had made in the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and had highlighted the areas where more work was needed.  Turkey would ensure the respect for human rights of women and take the necessary precautionary measures against discrimination and violence against women.

YOKO HAYASHI, Committee Chairperson, thanked the delegation for the constructive dialogue and encouraged Turkey to take all necessary measures to address the various recommendations made by the Committee.

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