19 Jun 2019

 There is need to increase women participation in politics for both Botswana and Turkey.

Both the Turkish ambassador, Ms Meltem Buyukkarakas and Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Gladys Kokorwe echoed the sentiments when the ambassador paid a courtesy call to the speaker in Gaborone on June 18. 

Ms Kokorwe decried the  lack of women representation in Botswana’s parliament.  

“We have only six female Members of Parliament including me, with only three of those elected through the polls,” she said.

She also noted that there was a challenge of MPs being too thinly spread on the ground through various parliamentary committees. 

She stated that they had 12 portfolio committees as well as 12 standing committees and five inter parliamentary bodies.  

 “You find that a member of parliament will belong to six committees yet they have to keep going to their constituencies, so if they are always held up by committees, that would not be good for their constituencies,” she noted.  

For her part, Ms Buyukkarakas shared similar concerns regarding low female participation in politics, stating that only 18 per cent of Turkey’s MPs were women. 

This translated to about only 103 female MPs in Turkey’s 600-seat parliament. 

Ms Buyukkarakas, who is on her fifth month as an ambassador, stated that Turkey saw Botswana as a natural partner being a beacon of uninterrupted democracy, rule of law as well as political stability.

“Africa is one of strategic pillars of Turkey’s foreign policy, we have had long standing relations with Northern Africa but there is renewed interest in the last decade towards Sub-Saharan Africa,” she stated. 

This, she said, followed declaration of Turkey as strategic partner by the African Union in 2008. 

“Since then our institutional presence is growing in the continent and now we have embassies in 42 African states and about 15 of them are headed by female ambassadors,” she noted. 

In addition, she stated that Turkey was also playing host to 35 African embassies.  Turkey opened its embassy in Gaborone in 2014. 

Regarding relations with Botswana, Ms Buyukkarakas said that there was untapped potential in areas of business and investments. 

“Trade volume is small but there is growing interest from Turkish business circles to come do business in Botswana and similarly there is interest by Botswana companies to partner with Turkish companies,” she noted. 

The ambassador called for establishment of direct links between institutions of both countries such as inter parliamentary committees and friendship groups. She announced that Turkey already has a friendship group for Botswana, which is chaired by a women’s rights activist and journalist. ends