IMPACT OF EUROPEAN UNION ON TURKEY’S GENDER RELATED EMPLOYMENT POLICY FROM THE 1999 HELSINKI SUMMIT

IMPACT OF EUROPEAN UNION ON TURKEY’S GENDER RELATED EMPLOYMENT POLICY FROM THE 1999 HELSINKI SUMMIT

By Blessing Chinekwu Okeke

Political Science and International Relations, Institute of Graduate Studies, Istanbul Aydin University, Kucukcekmece, Istanbul Turkey.

Correspondence: Blessing, Chinekwu Okeke, Political Science and International Relations, Institute of Graduate Studies, Istanbul Aydin University, Besyol, Inonu Cd. No 38, 34395, Kucukcekmece, Istanbul Turkey.

E-mail: blessingokeke@stu.aydin.edu.tr

Abstract

The aims of this research were to determine if the European Union served as a driving force in the determination of Turkey’s employment policy decisions; measure Turkey’s current progress report in terms of the adoption of the EU’s gender employment policy; discover the greatest challenges or problems caused by Turkey’s gender employment policy.

Apart from these aims, other aims that this research set out to achieve were measuring the extent of Turkey’s compliance with the European Union’s standards in the area of gender equality; discovering the impact of the European Union’s Gender Equality Regime in Turkey’s employment patterns, especially in practice and lastly, measuring the EU’s effectiveness in ensuring the achievement of gender equality among member nations.

This research employed the qualitative research method, utilizing face-to-face interviews conducted on 10 carefully selected Turkish citizens to collect information relevant to answering this study’s research questions.

These interviewees comprised of 5 men and 5 women, all of whom were senior staff members of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services, particularly called ‘Aile, Calisma ve Sosyal Hizmetler Bakanligi’, which has its headquarters office located in Ankara, Turkey.

Data were analyzed utilizing text transcription of interviewees’ comments and also excerpts to answer the relevant research questions.

The study’s findings revealed that in the past, the European Union constituted a significant driving force in determining labour and employment policies, however currently, the Union has ceased to be a driving force for determining employment policy decisions in Turkey.

The study also revealed the following: Turkey is in charge of determining her employment laws and policies and is not dependent neither is the country abiding by the stipulations contained in the EU’s Gender Employment Regime and in terms of her adherence to the EU’s Gender Employment Regime it was really low. In the same vein, tradition and culture; a patriarchal society; religion and tradition; and Turkey’s adoption of the Middle Eastern cultures and beliefs were pointed as the causes of gender inequality in Turkey’s labour force.

Lastly, despite the existence of the European Union’s Gender Employment Regime, its recommendations did not create any significant impact in Turkey’s employment landscape, policies or employment patterns and also the EU’s Gender Employment Regime was no longer effective in facilitating gender equality among all of EU’s member nations, as the union lacked a mechanism of enforcing compliance among her member nations.

Keywords: Impact, Gender, Gender Employment Regime, European Union.

  1. Introduction
    Gender is mostly considered as a concept that is socially created and a number of gender sociologists are of the school of thought that gender is a creation of the various social processes and not a biological process. According to these sociologists, gender could be considered as a specified pattern of behaviours, actions or identities, which are rewarded and created by parents, instructors or other figures of authority within a specified environment or place. In the same vein, another school of thought describes gender as a concept, which underlines socially created roles ascribed to men and women, and is learned, and evolves over time and is also different based on cultures.

This description of gender is based on the premise that gender is the social organization of assumed sexual variations that dictates the roles and identities connected with being a male of female. According to Ertürk, gender identities are determined within a social-cultural context, and also with an economic and political environment, with various roles and responsibilities connected with being a woman or man. Ertürk further reveals that with regard to the creation of gender, there exists unequal power relationship between men and women, with the existence of male domination and female subordination in predominantly most part of the world.

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