Cablegate: Opinion Poll On Status of Women in Six Turkish

VZCZCXRO1790
PP RUEHAST
DE RUEHAK #3973/01 1881108
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071108Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7105
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEKDAI/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-3/J-5//
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU//TCH//
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEUITH/TLO ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003973

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KWMN TU
SUBJECT: OPINION POLL ON STATUS OF WOMEN IN SIX TURKISH
PROVINCES REVEALS FAULTLINES

ANKARA 00003973 001.2 OF 003

1. (U) Summary and comment: The United Nations Joint Program
to Promote and Protect Women and Girls' Human Rights in
Turkey recently released a poll on the status of women in six
cities. The poll results reveal two major faultlines
affecting attitudes towards women: 1) between Turkey's
modern economic centers and underdeveloped provinces; and 2)
between a woman's role in the public sphere and in private
life. For example, while most Turks support women's equal
rights and engagement in politics, many still believe that
the woman's place is in the home or that it is acceptable for
a man to cheat on his wife. While somewhat limited in its
scale, the poll illustrates that as development and education
increase, values here tend to evolve from the more
traditional to the modern. End Summary and comment.

----------------------------
Methodology and Demographics
----------------------------

2. (U) The UN and Ankara Social Research Center (ANAR)
surveyed 3,000 Turks of all ages from varying educational and
socioeconomic backgrounds. They concentrated on six cities
where their program is active, including:

-- Izmir: the third largest city in Turkey and one of the
most developed, on the Aegean coast;
-- Nevsehir: a medium-sized city in central Anatolia;
-- Trabzon: a port city on the Black Sea;
-- Van: an underdeveloped city on the eastern border with
Iran;
-- Kars: a northeastern city near the border with Armenia;
and
-- Sanliurfa, an underdeveloped city with a substantial Arab
population near the southeastern border with Syria.

--------------------
Women's Human Rights
--------------------

3. (U) On human rights in general, men and women are both
about 80% aware that Turkish legislation provides for women's
equal rights under the law. However, men show a higher
percentage of awareness than women across all six provinces.
In Sanliurfa, for example, only 73.5% of women are aware of
equal rights, which the analysis attributes to the high level
of women's illiteracy in the region (38.4%). At the same
time, however, when asked whether a man cheating on his wife
may be tolerated, the responses showed an attitudinal change
between general human rights and traditional values. Almost
50% of women in Sanliurfa and 67% of men in Kars, for
example, say a man cheating on his wife may be tolerated.
Trabzon and Nevsehir men and women had the lowest percentages
of tolerance; 11% and 26.7%, respectively.

-------------------------------------
Violence and Protection from Violence
-------------------------------------

4. (U) The poll differentiates between honor killings and
domestic violence. Both men and women agree that honor
killings are crimes against humanity. However, more men
(17.4%) than women (8.5%) approve of the practice. In
Sanliurfa, the approval of this practice is highest (26.8%
for women and 30.5% for men), which the analysis correlates
with the high regional occurrence of this crime. Tolerance
for the crime is lowest in Izmir (1.1% of women and 8.1% of
men).

5. (U) One-fifth of all women polled report being victims of
domestic violence, which in 73% of cases they reported as
coming from husbands. While women do not legitimize
violence, attitudes on rejection of violence vary. In
Sanliurfa, only 32.7% of women reject violence, as opposed to
as many as 81.7% in Kars. At the same time, four-fifths of
all women (Sanliurfa being the highest with 95%) deem the
opening of shelters imperative. Although legal protection
provides for removal of the perpetrator of violence from the
house, women can also become victimized in this process as it
often removes the bread winner from the family.

--------------------------------------------- ---

ANKARA 00003973 002.2 OF 003

Improvement of Local Administration and Services
--------------------------------------------- ---

6. (U) Women in Turkey think there should be more women
represented in the local government, but very few are aware
of the services already offered for women by the local
administration. In provinces where illiteracy is high, women
demand vocational courses and literacy courses most. In
Izmir, women know the kinds of services on offer and make the
highest ratio (18.8%) of direct requests for service. Eighty
percent of women say they would cast a vote for female
representatives, with ratios exceeding 85% in Nevsehir, Van,
Kars and Trabzon. More than two-thirds of women in Nevsehir,
Van, Trabzon and Kars, and approximately half in Izmir and
Sanliurfa would vote for a candidate sensitive to women's
issues. On average, more than half of the men stated the
same opinion.

------------------------------------------
Participation in Decision-Making Processes
------------------------------------------

7. (U) The survey confirmed previous poll results of high
voting rates for women, with Izmir the highest with 80%.
Two-thirds to three-fourths of women in all six provinces
would support women candidates in the elections, with
Nevsehir leading at 78.3%. In similar and actually higher
numbers, men also stated that they would support women
candidates. Between one-fifth and one-third of women stated
an interest in entering politics, but most were self-critical
and reported lack of education (Izmir), lack of interest
(Trabzon) and passivity (Kars) as reasons for staying out.
Awareness of women's organizations, which could help mobilize
women participation in politics is very low, highest in Izmir
(27.6%) and lowest in Sanliurfa (7%).

---------------------------
Employment and Working Life
---------------------------

8. (U) Women who think that a woman's place is in the home
prevail in Sanliurfa, Van, and Nevsehir, while provinces such
as Izmir, Trabzon and Kars show lower attachment to the
traditional family structure. Men across all provinces are
generally more likely to support women staying home.
Participation of urban women in the labor force is relatively
low in Turkey; 17.3% in Sanliurfa and 24.5% in Izmir.
However, provincial and generational differences do play a
factor. While restriction by the husband and family-related
obligations were the leading reasons stated for not working
in Sanliurfa (73.6%) and Nevsehir (57.1%), in Izmir (24.9%)
and Kars (45.7%) women cited failure to find a job as the
leading reason. The number of women who want vocational
training also varies along provincial lines: in Sanliurfa
(62%), Nevsehir (58.8%) and Van (55%) women are mostly not
interested, while in Izmir, 51.7% wanted training. Regarding
training, young women (15-24 and 25-34 age group) choose
computer classes first while older women (35-44 and 55-64 age
group) prefer tailoring and carpet weaving courses,
suggesting the younger generation is more willing to
participate in the social and economic life outside the home.

---------------------------------
Family and Inter-Family Relations
---------------------------------

9. (U) The report reveals significant differences between
provinces in the number of children and identifies the
educational level of women as the most important determining
factor. In Sanliurfa, 26% of women have three or four
children, while 41.2% have four or more compared to 12% and
0.9 %, respectively, in Izmir. The ratio of families not
sending their daughters to school is 5-6 % for all provinces,
but reaches 15.6 % in Sanliurfa. The survey indicates that
financial problems are the main reason for not sending girls
to school. These financial problems stem from both the
removal of extra labor from the home and costs related to
uniforms and books that families must bear. In terms of
family planning, over 70% of women in all provinces received
information and assistance from healthcare institutions.
However, in Sanliurfa and Van, respondents indicated the

ANKARA 00003973 003.2 OF 003

spouse and family as the informational source. The divorce
rate is quite low in Turkey. Between two-thirds and
three-fourths of all men and women agreed with the statement
that divorced women are excluded from society.

---------------
Recommendations
---------------

10. (U) The report makes several broad recommendations:

-- increase local administration services available and
accessible to women;

-- heighten awareness about existing legislation regarding
women's protection from violence and build more
shelters for battered women;

-- ease the burden on women of family care by creating homes
for the elderly;

-- open special credit cards for women to help them learn how
to manage a household budget;

-- create computer classes for training for employment,
increasing awareness of NGOs and their activities and using
the internet to allow women to ask difficult questions in
private they might otherwise be reluctant to ask.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

WILSON

© Scoop Media