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Women lawmakers constitute only 14.3 percent of the 550-seat Turkish parliament despite reports showing that number of female deputies in Turkey has increased compared to the previous legislative term.

The number of female lawmakers in the Turkish parliament, which was 50 in the 23rd parliament term, has increased to 79 in the 24th term.

Turkey's ruling Justice & Development (AK) Party, which had 30 women deputies in the previous term, increased such figure to 46 this term, as main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has increased the number of its female parliament members from 9 to 19.

Moreover, Nationalist Movement Party's (MHP) female representatives at the parliament has increased from 2 to 3, while Peace & Democracy Party's (BDP) women MPs has risen from 8 to 9 during the 24th term. Currently, there are also 2 female independent deputies in the Turkish parliament.

When looked at the ratio of female MPs to the total number of lawmakers of political parties, BDP has the highest women participation in the parliament with 31 percent, followed by independents with 28.56 percent, AK Party and CHP both with 14 percent, and MHP with 5.7 percent.

The ratio of women MPs in the 550-seat parliament is 14.26 percent, while number of male lawmakers reaches 85.63 percent.

Women MPs also have certain positions within the administration teams of their political parties, as AK Party, CHP and BDP have selected women deputies as their deputy group chairmen.

On the other hand, women's representation in parliamentary commissions and the cabinet are quite law.

Out of the total 17 specialized commissions in the Turkish parliament, only the parliamentary commission on gender equality has a female lawmaker as its chairperson, while the sole female member of the current cabinet is AK Party's Gaziantep deputy Fatma Sahin, Turkey's newly-appointed Family & Social Policies Minister.

AA