İris Şentürk- Leading the way for women
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Gül Demir-Niki Gamm
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 07, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Antakya, or Antioch as it was known in ancient times, hardly seems like a city that would vote a woman in as mayor. But it already has Ğ İris Şentürk served as the mayor of this town of 150,000 people between 1999 and 2004.
Antioch on the Orontes. This is a city established in 300 B.C. after the death of Alexander the Great by the Seleucid King Antiochus Soter on a site that dates back at least to the sixth millennium B.C. and went on to play an important part in the history as one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire and Byzantium, and played its part in the rise of Christianity, Islam and the Crusades. It quickly became a focal point for the caravans coming from Central Asia and the Iranian area to meet with ships that would then take their cargo to distant places around the Mediterranean, Europe and Africa.
Would you think again? Antakya has had a woman mayor, İris Şentürk, and she is now running again after a break of five years. Her platform is briefly to improve services offered to the women of Antakya.
Şentürk told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that she believes the characteristics a woman can bring to the job are honesty, principles, decisiveness, conciliation and peacemaking. She said a woman brings a practical mind to being mayor as well as being more industrious and sacrificing.
Asked what problems such an extraordinary ancient city brings, Şentürk said, "Urban planning has to be organized, traffic jams have to be dealt with, water sources and piping have to be renewed, infrastructure has to be renewed and broadened, new green spaces have to be created, carparks have to be built and the city’s social fabric renewed so that there will be places where people can meet socially. As a woman I have an advantage in communicating with everybody. No one can understand children and young people in the way a mother does."
Asked how she felt about the candidates from other parties, Şentürk said running for mayor was about competing for service. In this sense the people will decide at the ballot box but she believes knowing Antakya, its problems and solutions are very important.
Does Şentürk have a model that she has approved of on the political stage? She said no one particular, but anyone who is principled and honest, loves his city and country and puts his city and people above everything.
Şentürk has a unique view of Antakya, a city that is older than Paris, London and New York. "It has hosted dozens of civilizations and is mentioned in holy books. The first time the name of Christianity was given to the followers of Jesus Christ. People who belonged to different religions and religious sects have lived together for centuries as brothers.
"The lifestyle, traditions, architecture and cultural identity of this city today in which the sound of the call to prayer and the bell rise to the sky like a harmonious chorus is passion to me. Passion and love for Antakya has had the most important effect on my continuing to be the city’s mayor.
"I have an important duty to protect this rich heritage that has accumulated over the years, to embrace it and to pass it on to future generations. Of course until 1999 the understanding of what is a routine mayoralty continued but with my being elected mayor in 1999, this understanding changed and became an understanding that brings to life and enlivens the socio-cultural life with the city’s heritage that comes from the past. Today all of the organizations in Antakya have begun to consider it a ’Trademark City.’
"Such expressions as ’the city of peace, brotherhood and tolerance’ ’Cultural Identity’ ’Architectural Identity’ blossomed when I was the mayor. That universal concepts were taken up by all of the people of the city illustrates that the work I was doing in this regard was necessary and successful. Unfortunately today Antakya is not in a position that parallels its splendid history. My most important goal is for Antakya to embrace a modern city identity on every side."
Şentürk as a person
Şentürk was born in Antakya in 1961 and completed her lower education in Antakya before going on Istanbul Marmara University where she graduated in 1982 from the Press and Publication Higher Education School.
She lived in Istanbul and married Hakan Şentürk her school friend and she felt honored to be his wife. At the same time she worked in journalism and public relations at various companies. "We settled in Antakya because we couldn’t bear missing the place that my husband loved so much and we never left it again," said Şentürk. "Up to today I took on duties in the administration of the local Social People’s Party and Republican People’s Party and was an administrator and chairman in non-governmental organizations. I have supported every kind of community, social, cultural and political organization. I am still a partner in two companies and in their management. I am one of the owners of one of the local press organizations. "I am a working mother who is raising my two girls, Ezgi and Ilke, to be useful members of the community. I am a businesswoman who gives importance to commercial ethics. I try to be a politician who has used what I’ve built up to bring political principles to life."
Along with this Şentürk does live up to the position of being a traditional mother as she enjoys cooking even with her husband. It seems that while she was growing up, her father used to like to cook and they cooked together. She does have some time to read but otherwise, she enjoys nature, working in the garden and catching fish.
"There’s an expression ’to reach maturity.’ If you had asked me this question a few years ago, I would have told you about all of the difficulties I faced. However I was a candidate and I went through the process of being a candidate and the election. I passed through all of these honorably. As a woman I proved that I could easily do everything that my male rivals could. At the time I lived through many difficulties.
"However in the process that I passed through I earned the trust of the people of Antakya and the parties as a result of the performance I showed. I eliminated any questions that they might have had in their heads. Now people know İris Şentürk and they trust her and see her as one of their own, they believe she will be successful. Because I overcame all the difficulties that a woman candidate could live through, if now it’s necessary to summarize my relaxation I proved that I had matured. At the moment I am beginning of working for the elections. They would ask in the past how a woman could be mayor, but now we are proceeding together."
Referring to her previous stint as mayor, Şentürk said about what she will do in future if elected mayor. "The work we were carrying out as mayor directed towards women will continue in the same way. We can summarize these in three topics. Educated woman, productive woman. Authoritative woman. In the earlier period we provided education for our women while we were being supported by NGOs on several subjects such as law, health, reading-writing, sexuality and mother and child health. We provided the opportunity to bring up these problems along with the City Council and Women’s Commissions. We will continue to develop these in accordance with the conditions the day demands."
As a CHP candidate
Şentürk is a candidate for the Republican People’s Party and that means she is basically a rival to the Justice and Development Party, or AKP. Although by law the party that governs in Ankara has to dispense centrally collected tax money within a clear proportional measure, it does allow the central government to give only the minimum of that money to places where its own candidates were not successful.
So it seemed reasonable to ask her whether this might not affect her work negatively, but she replied, "I am very industrious and decisive. I struggle for subjects in which I am right. My being a candidate from the opposition party isn’t a negative because whether the mayor is from an opposition party or from the party in power, they can’t do anything under the new municipalities law. It wouldn’t change anything. Şentürk wanted to run for Parliament in 2007 but was unable to enter the candidates’ list. But does it matter if a person is a mayor or a member of Parliament? "I don’t think it’s right to compare these positions that are there to serve the nation."
Few female candidates
The ratio of woman candidates in the upcoming local elections does not even reach 3 percent, according to data from the Association to Support Women Candidates, or KA-DER, released Friday.
"Since 1930, the year that women obtained the right to vote and to be elected, Turkey can see woman mayors only in four cities," the press statement from KA-DER said. The number of male candidates is slightly more than 13,000, according to unofficial data, while the number of woman candidates is below 400.
The ratio of woman mayors in the previous period was only 0.6 percent. Among 3,225 mayors, only 18 were women. Democratic Left Party, or DSP, has the highest number of female candidates, 62 among its total 1,335 candidates. The Justice and Development Party, or AKP, with only 18 candidates among total 2,946 is the one with the least number of female candidates, while the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP is the most women friendly one.
Would you think again? Antakya has had a woman mayor, İris Şentürk, and she is now running again after a break of five years. Her platform is briefly to improve services offered to the women of Antakya.
Şentürk told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that she believes the characteristics a woman can bring to the job are honesty, principles, decisiveness, conciliation and peacemaking. She said a woman brings a practical mind to being mayor as well as being more industrious and sacrificing.
Asked what problems such an extraordinary ancient city brings, Şentürk said, "Urban planning has to be organized, traffic jams have to be dealt with, water sources and piping have to be renewed, infrastructure has to be renewed and broadened, new green spaces have to be created, carparks have to be built and the city’s social fabric renewed so that there will be places where people can meet socially. As a woman I have an advantage in communicating with everybody. No one can understand children and young people in the way a mother does."
Asked how she felt about the candidates from other parties, Şentürk said running for mayor was about competing for service. In this sense the people will decide at the ballot box but she believes knowing Antakya, its problems and solutions are very important.
Does Şentürk have a model that she has approved of on the political stage? She said no one particular, but anyone who is principled and honest, loves his city and country and puts his city and people above everything.
Şentürk has a unique view of Antakya, a city that is older than Paris, London and New York. "It has hosted dozens of civilizations and is mentioned in holy books. The first time the name of Christianity was given to the followers of Jesus Christ. People who belonged to different religions and religious sects have lived together for centuries as brothers.
"The lifestyle, traditions, architecture and cultural identity of this city today in which the sound of the call to prayer and the bell rise to the sky like a harmonious chorus is passion to me. Passion and love for Antakya has had the most important effect on my continuing to be the city’s mayor.
"I have an important duty to protect this rich heritage that has accumulated over the years, to embrace it and to pass it on to future generations. Of course until 1999 the understanding of what is a routine mayoralty continued but with my being elected mayor in 1999, this understanding changed and became an understanding that brings to life and enlivens the socio-cultural life with the city’s heritage that comes from the past. Today all of the organizations in Antakya have begun to consider it a ’Trademark City.’
"Such expressions as ’the city of peace, brotherhood and tolerance’ ’Cultural Identity’ ’Architectural Identity’ blossomed when I was the mayor. That universal concepts were taken up by all of the people of the city illustrates that the work I was doing in this regard was necessary and successful. Unfortunately today Antakya is not in a position that parallels its splendid history. My most important goal is for Antakya to embrace a modern city identity on every side."
Şentürk as a person
Şentürk was born in Antakya in 1961 and completed her lower education in Antakya before going on Istanbul Marmara University where she graduated in 1982 from the Press and Publication Higher Education School.
She lived in Istanbul and married Hakan Şentürk her school friend and she felt honored to be his wife. At the same time she worked in journalism and public relations at various companies. "We settled in Antakya because we couldn’t bear missing the place that my husband loved so much and we never left it again," said Şentürk. "Up to today I took on duties in the administration of the local Social People’s Party and Republican People’s Party and was an administrator and chairman in non-governmental organizations. I have supported every kind of community, social, cultural and political organization. I am still a partner in two companies and in their management. I am one of the owners of one of the local press organizations. "I am a working mother who is raising my two girls, Ezgi and Ilke, to be useful members of the community. I am a businesswoman who gives importance to commercial ethics. I try to be a politician who has used what I’ve built up to bring political principles to life."
Along with this Şentürk does live up to the position of being a traditional mother as she enjoys cooking even with her husband. It seems that while she was growing up, her father used to like to cook and they cooked together. She does have some time to read but otherwise, she enjoys nature, working in the garden and catching fish.
"There’s an expression ’to reach maturity.’ If you had asked me this question a few years ago, I would have told you about all of the difficulties I faced. However I was a candidate and I went through the process of being a candidate and the election. I passed through all of these honorably. As a woman I proved that I could easily do everything that my male rivals could. At the time I lived through many difficulties.
"However in the process that I passed through I earned the trust of the people of Antakya and the parties as a result of the performance I showed. I eliminated any questions that they might have had in their heads. Now people know İris Şentürk and they trust her and see her as one of their own, they believe she will be successful. Because I overcame all the difficulties that a woman candidate could live through, if now it’s necessary to summarize my relaxation I proved that I had matured. At the moment I am beginning of working for the elections. They would ask in the past how a woman could be mayor, but now we are proceeding together."
Referring to her previous stint as mayor, Şentürk said about what she will do in future if elected mayor. "The work we were carrying out as mayor directed towards women will continue in the same way. We can summarize these in three topics. Educated woman, productive woman. Authoritative woman. In the earlier period we provided education for our women while we were being supported by NGOs on several subjects such as law, health, reading-writing, sexuality and mother and child health. We provided the opportunity to bring up these problems along with the City Council and Women’s Commissions. We will continue to develop these in accordance with the conditions the day demands."
As a CHP candidate
Şentürk is a candidate for the Republican People’s Party and that means she is basically a rival to the Justice and Development Party, or AKP. Although by law the party that governs in Ankara has to dispense centrally collected tax money within a clear proportional measure, it does allow the central government to give only the minimum of that money to places where its own candidates were not successful.
So it seemed reasonable to ask her whether this might not affect her work negatively, but she replied, "I am very industrious and decisive. I struggle for subjects in which I am right. My being a candidate from the opposition party isn’t a negative because whether the mayor is from an opposition party or from the party in power, they can’t do anything under the new municipalities law. It wouldn’t change anything. Şentürk wanted to run for Parliament in 2007 but was unable to enter the candidates’ list. But does it matter if a person is a mayor or a member of Parliament? "I don’t think it’s right to compare these positions that are there to serve the nation."
Few female candidates
The ratio of woman candidates in the upcoming local elections does not even reach 3 percent, according to data from the Association to Support Women Candidates, or KA-DER, released Friday.
"Since 1930, the year that women obtained the right to vote and to be elected, Turkey can see woman mayors only in four cities," the press statement from KA-DER said. The number of male candidates is slightly more than 13,000, according to unofficial data, while the number of woman candidates is below 400.
The ratio of woman mayors in the previous period was only 0.6 percent. Among 3,225 mayors, only 18 were women. Democratic Left Party, or DSP, has the highest number of female candidates, 62 among its total 1,335 candidates. The Justice and Development Party, or AKP, with only 18 candidates among total 2,946 is the one with the least number of female candidates, while the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP is the most women friendly one.