As the MÜSİAD WOMEN'S COMMITTEE, we share the well-deserved pride of having been officially founded in 2018 within MÜSİAD, Türkiye's largest Capital Platform, and of being Türkiye's most widespread and comprehensive Businesswomen's Organization.

Our organizational work, through which we have restructured both our Head Office and our local and global networks and by which we aim to bring together under a single roof our women who take an active role in business life both in Anatolia and abroad, continues at full speed. With this awareness, on this 8 March Women's Day, as MÜSİAD WOMEN we take well-deserved pride in sharing this declaration with the entire public:

1. Every woman is born with the instinct and the right to be a mother. Motherhood is sacred. This right can neither separate her from business life nor place her in the position of a second-class citizen.

2. Founding a family is a choice for a woman. At the same time, it is essential for society in order to raise generations as healthy individuals. However, the entire burden of the institution of the family cannot be placed on the shoulders of the woman alone. In a family, the man also has responsibilities towards the children and the family, just as the mother has obligations.

3. The solution to the problems experienced within the family cannot be sought in the woman alone. A spouse who neglects her, who from time to time finds his happiness outside the family and excuses this situation as relieving the increasing stress of life, cannot be forgiven on any justified grounds.

4. The education and guidance of children within the family cannot be left to the shoulders of the woman alone. The responsibility of the institution of fatherhood must be comprehended by the man as well.

5. Against deliberate discourses and policies that inject into society the notion that the fundamental rights and duties of women, such as founding a family and having children, constitute an approach that humiliates women, protecting our own cultural and social values and thereby preserving our generations must be our fundamental duty.

6. Turkish women are strong, but at times they are not aware of it. In each of the Turkish societies and states and in every period, women have been a decisive element and have at the same time not neglected their duties within the institution of the family. From science to foundation management, from trade to art, from politics to military organization, Turkish history is full of women's triumphs in every field. Teaching these facts to our generations and reminding them once again of the image of the strong Turkish woman must be a social duty.

7. In Islamic culture, just as in Turkish culture, the notion of woman is at the forefront. We see the finest example of this in the era of our Prophet (peace be upon him) as well. Likewise, our holy book the Qur'an is adorned with verses that always watch over women, make them the cornerstone of society and give them precedence. Combating views that advocate the opposite of this must be our social obligation.

8. It must be underlined how bigoted an expression, under today's conditions, the logic that women can be active only in certain fields and must stand back in other fields because of their mental and physical inadequacies is, and this must be fought against.

9. It must not be forgotten that in a society where women are not well educated and their self-confidence is taken away from them, generations that are prone to violence and low in potential will be raised. For this reason, particular importance must be given to the education of women.

10. It must be remembered that a child's first education and first contact with life come through the mother, and therefore it must not be forgotten that the physical or psychological violence a mother experiences within the family will in the future produce generations inclined to violence.

11. Communication is the fundamental method for the initiation and development of human relations. The importance of communication in the resolution of problems between the two sexes must not be disregarded, and care must be taken to keep the channels of communication with women constantly open instead of holding them in contempt.

12. The way must be opened for every woman to have a profession of her own beyond being a mother or a spouse. It must be supported far more that the female population, which lacks self-confidence in the harsh conditions of life and is increasingly crushed because it has no recourse whatsoever in the face of every kind of hardship, becomes individuals standing on their own feet.

13. For economic development, the way must be opened for the idle female population to be brought into employment, for our women to be directed towards work in line with their own abilities, or for them to earn material income from their own handiwork within the logic of forming cooperatives under suitable conditions.

14. The rate of employment of trained women in the working environment must be increased. The competencies and grace that women, by their very nature, will bring to the job and the workplace must not be disregarded.

15. The power of women in politics must not be forgotten. Considering that almost half of the country's population is female, the way must be opened for the female base to be educated as politically conscious voters.

16. In order to meet our women's sense of belonging and their need for social acceptance, the renewal that their participation in various NGO activities and the achievements they will gain through the work they carry out there will create in their mental world must not be disregarded.

17. The reality of women's labour within corporate structures, of women's management, and of how the hand of women refreshes institutions must not be disregarded.

As MÜSİAD WOMEN;

We say no to everything continuing with the same mindset after every 8 March Women's Day. While we subscribe to the principle of the equivalence of women's existence, we say no to this equivalence being operated against women. We say no to rights granted in word being left in abeyance in practice. We say no to the erosion of our values under the slogan that our right to live in accordance with our religious and cultural codes does not comply with the criteria of modern life. We say no to this being disregarded even though we draw our power to succeed in every field from our genetic and historical codes.

As MÜSİAD WOMEN;

Mother, spouse, sister, employee, employer, politician, bureaucrat… whatever the name may be, we say we are in favour of a world in which none of these is an obstacle to being a woman and being a woman is not an obstacle to all of these.

We say we are ready to work and to produce in every sphere in order to produce more and to raise our country to the standards of developed countries.

With the understanding that qualified mothers raise a healthy future, we say we are in favour of our daughters being prepared as qualified individuals in every respect.

We say we are ready first and foremost to combat traditions incompatible with human dignity, in order to bring back into society the lives that vanish in their shadow.

We are present in the family, we are present in the business world, we are present in science, in art and in culture; we say we are present in every sphere of life.

Happy 8 March Women's Day to us all.

Müge Öz
MÜSİAD WOMEN President