Another report, prepared by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2010 and surveying 20 countries, shows that women fill 12 percent of high-level positions in Turkey and that the country is third from the bottom in terms of female employment.

Research conducted by US-based online employment company Monster reveals that 63 percent of women say women face discrimination, while 64 percent of women respond that housework traditionally left to women, including taking care of the household and children, is the leading reason behind women not getting promoted at work. The research also puts forward that female employment, a key factor in sustainable development, is decreasing due to discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment and a lack of childcare facilities at workplaces.

In a demonstration held on the occasion of International Women’s Day in İstanbul’s Kadıköy district over the weekend, participating women said they are subjected to inequalities in work life, receiving the lowest salaries and being the last to have insurance. A spokesperson called on all women to get organized against oppression inflicted on women in every sphere of life.

Women have no place in media

Research conducted by the Media Monitoring Center (MTM) has illuminated the status of female employment in the media sector. Highlighting that women mostly make it into the newspapers in articles on murders, suicide, rape and violence, the MTM said women as employees in the sector is not much better. There are no female editors-in-chief in the national print press. Furthermore, only 15 percent of managing editors are women, according to the research. Women have more space in supplements prepared by publications, with 17 percent of all 1,599 columnists in the national press being women, the results of the research say. The MTM report also reveals that the smallest percentage of female columnists is found in the sports, politics and business bureaus. One striking finding is that sports newspapers do not employ any female columnists.

In the meantime, Turkey’s female artists spoke about what International Women’s Day means for them. Mimosa flowers are the symbol of Women’s Day, author and actress İclal Aydın said, “because the volatile flowers and hard-to-break branches of a mimosa actually describe a woman.” Author Oya Baydar says Women’s Day has been emptied of meaning. It was once the day on which women around the world voiced their demands for equality and rights, she said. Explaining that International Working Women’s Day was launched in memory of 129 workers, mostly women, who protested against poor working conditions in the US in 1857, author Yekta Kopan calls the day a “struggle of liberation.”

Women must take part in every level of politics

As discussions over women’s active participation in politics ahead of the June 12 general elections heat up on International Women’s Day, State Minister for Family and Women’s Affairs Selma Aliye Kavaf has said Parliament is not the only place for which women should vie. While noting that the best place to learn politics is local organizations, Kavaf highlighted during her visit to the Zaman daily’s headquarters on Sunday that politics is work that can only be learned by doing and experiencing. She also emphasized that more women should engage in politics and said she would like to see more female deputies in Parliament. “Until recently, only men have fought to be in politics. Women have kept away. However, women do politics better,” she added.

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PM Erdoğan: Discrimination against women inhuman

“I respectfully greet the women who are oppressed, facing harassment, used as cheap labor, subjected to terrorism and victims of töre [patriarchal codes],” Erdoğan said at yesterday’s grand congress of the Turkish Metals Union. Marking International Women’s Day, Erdoğan said discrimination against women is inhuman and added that Turkish traditions place women at the center of the household and social and economic life. Meanwhile, a new bill has been drafted to slow the increasing number of murders of women across the nation. Fatma Şahin, head of the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) women’s branches, yesterday explained on NTV that anyone threatening women will be liable to punishment even if they inflict no physical violence on women. The bill envisages addressing threats more urgently and with more practical solutions, expanding the authority of police officers

This is the second time Kemal’s story is getting a feature film treatment, the first one being a 1987 production, starring Kadir İnanır in its title role.

The story is set in 1940s Turkey, a time when World War II had forced destitution on the country. It’s always hard to adapt literature to the big screen, and though the film is decorated with an entourage of celebrated actors and actresses, the difficulties of reflecting a literary text in cinema in light of coherency have tarnished this very well-intentioned film, produced by the production company of actors Kerem Alışık and Yavuz Bingöl.

Set in the confines of a prison, the film starts off with a hoard of inmates fighting over a leftover chicken drumstick thrown out by one of the cruel guards. The men are not men anymore, observes the proud Captain Ahmet (Yavuz Bingöl), also an inmate. As he watches his fellow inmates from the 72nd ward in this freezing courtyard, he ponders whether people in such conditions have any integrity left. And so we are introduced to the members of this ward, all of them with rotten teeth, torn clothes and not a bite to eat. But things just might change when Ahmet receives money from his mother and decides to share it by buying all of his ward mates a round of hot food. How long will this generosity last? We wonder this as we see the cunning eyes of several of these men waiting to take advantage of Ahmet’s naïveté.

In the parallel story, we set foot into the women’s side of the prison. Frankly, a much more interesting story. With the arrival of the headstrong new inmate Fatma (Hülya Avşar, proving once again that she can actually act) the hierarchy of the women inmates might change. Fatma immediately befriends the pregnant Meryem (Songül Öden) who is on death row, nervously waiting for her execution after her birth. Their bond does not sit very well with the other women, who see Fatma’s beauty and stubbornness as a threat and are ready to do anything to see her demise. In fact her beauty catches the attention of Ahmet, who looks upon her as an angel from a distance, and of the mobster inmate Hilmi (Cihan Canova), who is only interested in satisfying his carnal desires. This prison is a place where the cunning, the cruel and the opportunist can survive. We can imagine the horrible things that take a toll on Fatma. Yet it isn’t only Fatma’s story that deserves our attention. Most of the women here have been imprisoned on false charges and as such serve as examples of women persecuted by a patriarchal system.

The relationship between Fatma and Meryem, in my view, is the strongest point of the film, not only thanks to the strong chemistry between Öden and Avşar but also the way Saraçoğlu has emphasized the importance of the remaining crumbs of humanity left in this dire place through the compassion of two women who stick up for and support each other.

The main problem with the film lies in its lack of focus. The parallel stories of the male and female wards are not woven into each other very well, and at times we feel like we are watching two very different movies. Kemal’s novel, through the two wards, points to the desperation of humanity in horrendous conditions; though the film makes it a point to underscore the same predicament, the drone tempo makes it feel that the potential was not fully tapped.

The choice of using intensely blazing violins throughout the soundtrack alienates the audience at essential scenes. The actors fully transmit their emotions without needing any grandiose musical support, and yet we are bombarded with such a high-pitched fortissimo that at times watching the screen becomes unbearable.

The cinematography of the film is a plus on the atmospheric aspect; Demian Barba illustrates with his lighting and framing a kind of hell-struck location that looms like an iron hammer waiting to strike down on the characters at any moment.

Although “72. Koğuş” is an admirable effort and manifests itself as a decent adaptation of the novel, it still manages to leave the audience aching to see something more: substance. This could have been an amazing film, but acquiesces to only be good.

‘72. Koğuş’

Directed by:

Murat Saraçoğlu

 Genre: drama

Cast: Kerem Alışık, Hülya Avşar, Yavuz Bingöl, Songül Öden