Turkey's EU minister receives head of EP women's rights committee

ANKARA (A.A) - February 21, 2012 - Turkey's EU Minister Egemen Bagis received Edit Bauer, president of European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, in Ankara on Tuesday. Bagis said that it was necessary to create common areas not different ones for women and men in the society in order to provide gender equality, adding that Turkey fulfilled revolution-like reforms in the past nine years in this issue. Bagis said that representation of women at Parliament during 2007 elections was record high in Turkey, adding that they would take steps to further increase this rate. Turkey believes that every type of discrimination against women is outdated, and violence towards women is a crime of humanity, said Bagis. Meanwhile, Bauer said that they were exerting efforts to settle and develop women rights, adding that a democracy without women was out of question. Bauer noted that they were closely following developments in women rights, labor force market, education and discrimination issues in Turkey.