Turkish women increase parliamentary clout

MP Leyla Zana is considered a hero among Kurds in Turkey Ankara - AFP The number of women in Turkey's parliament increased from 50 to 78 after Sunday's polls, according to unofficial results, but the gender gap remains wide. Once the electoral board  confirms the results, women would hold 14 percent of the seats in the 550-member parliament of the EU-hopeful country, where they are still struggling to overcome patriarchal traditions.
Most of the winning candidates -- 45 -- were elected on the ticket of the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), which won a third straight term in office with some 50 percent of the vote and a total of 325 seats.
Among the most prominent new women lawmakers is iconic Kurdish activist Leyla Zana, who spent 10 years behind bars before being released in 2004.
Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk gave women full voting rights as early as 1934, years ahead of some members of the European Union.
Although many are today emancipated in the urbanized west of the country, women are denied education and often treated like property in vast rural regions where patriarchal traditions continue to grip society.
Turkey's first and only woman prime minister was Tansu Ciller, who headed coalition governments between 1993 and 1996.