Women
The radical move of switching to the 4+4+4 education system has increased the tendency of girls, who are fifth and sixth graders, to abandon their education. The allowance of homeschooling for the high school students resulted in over 100,000 female students to abandon their education within the first year of its introduction. Vocational and technical schools which train personnel for the labor market are really inefficient in routing female students to new professions.
The labor force participation rate of Turkish women is way behind the 1990 rates and is very low by international standards. In 2012, the labor force participation rate of Turkish women was 29%, whereas this rate was 24% in the rural areas. The labor force participation rate of women in EU and OECD countries amount to 60%. Turkey ranks last with its women labor participation rate in OECD countries and there is also a huge difference between the labor participation rate of Mexico which is last but one in the ranking list with 47.1%.
Many women are directed for not working or working only in certain job fields due to reasons like “this work environment is not suitable for women” or “that work is against our customs and traditions”.
Rights like leaving the job with severance pay for newly-wed women or extended maternity leave, which came into force within the AKP government’s period, are not encouraging for women employment.
According to a World Bank report, women in Turkey are paid 20% less in average than men.
The needed institutional and structural support (full day school, low priced and good quality nursery) are not provided for working women who have to ensure family/work-life balance.
57.8% of employed women in Turkey are working without being registered to any social security institutions.
What to do?
Vocational pass-through and diversity for both men and women will be provided. For this purpose, women will be encouraged and trained to prefer and perform jobs which are referred to as men’s work and tax discounts will be provided for the private sector that will encourage the companies to employ women.
Lack of transportation facilities and the sexual harassments that are caused because of this does not allow women to work in shifts, unfortunately. We will provide special transportation services, extend it and will make it mandatory if needed for every company. We also plan to do it for all employees, not just for women.
Women are given 16 weeks of maternity leave, but men are given just 10 days. This is a blow for women's employment and it also makes the duty to look after children seem like women’s responsibility only. We will increase the permission of men and decrease the permission of women.
We will make the nursery services mandatory in the workplace and will open children’s centers in every neighborhood. I will mention children’s centers some more within the child topic.

The Child
According to the 2012 data of Statistics Institute of Turkey, 8 out of every 100 children work in Turkey. 1 out of every 5 children in the age range 15-17 works. Article 50 of the Constitution is concerned with working of children: "Nobody can be made to work in a job which is not suitable to his/her age, strength and gender. Minors, women and those with physical and mental handicaps shall receive special protection in terms of working conditions.''
It is also prohibited to employ children under the age of 15 within the labor laws.
Children’s Centers
Children’s centers which aim to keep mothers and children in the best possible humanitarian conditions before and after birth, Maternal and Child Health and Family Planning Centers which are today in danger of losing their functions, will all be principally as well as functionally refurbished. Children's Centers will first be established within the low income neighborhoods of big cities and then go on being established in each district of the East and Southeast Anatolia regions and will be expanded. In these centers, it is health and education services by the experts, as well as social and cultural services to children and their parents are expected to be provided. In these centers, basic health care and prenatal and postnatal care services will be delivered free of charge to every citizen. These centers will also provide half gold, food assistance and diapers for babies as a contribution to the family at birth.
Day Care Services
Parents, who need day care for their children, will be offered free of charge services in these Children's Centers. Working mothers at poor conditions may leave their children to these centers starting from their birth.
DISSEMINATION OF PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION
In Turkey, only 33% of children in the 5-6 age groups are receiving pre-school education.
Successes Provided
Children who receive Pre-School Education:
• Start ready for elementary school education and become more successful.
• Their self-confidence increases.
• Their mental/cognitive abilities and physical health are improving.
• Their ability to communicate with their environment and with their peers is getting stronger.
• Their aggression and violence tendencies are declining.
• They become more creative and more problem-solving.
• Their learning motivation is rising.
Benefits
Children's cognitive, physical and social development is almost completed up to the age of 6. During this period, the support they will get from pre-school educational institutions, which will prepare them for the long school journey waiting for them, is of great importance.
Social Contribution
Pre-school education ensures the elimination of gender-based inequalities in various forms. Pre-school education:
• Gives children the chance to start life in a way that would be more equal.
• Helps parents to understand that their girls have the requisite skills to continue their educations.
• Allows girls and boys in primary education to start their education lives on equal terms.
• May make the parents understand the value of education for their girls after they realize that their girls have the same level of learning abilities as boys.
The Importance of Ages 0-6
• In the first 5 years of life, 700 new neuronal connections occur each second in the brain.
• At the 18th month, the differences in vocabulary emerge.
• Children who are exposed to 6 or 7 negative behavior are at 90% - 100% risk of bad growth.
• Children, who are exposed to 7-8 negative experiences, are at risk of experiencing heart diseases with a 3 times higher probability than others.
• Early childhood education investments are proven to be 60% - 80% profitable in terms of economy.
Agriculture
Growth figures in the agricultural sector recorded during the Republican period, deciphers the slow tempo emerged during the AKP period. When agricultural growth rates throughout the history of the Republic are taken in a period of 10 years, the lowest average pace of growth are 1.2 and 1.3 for 1981-1990 and 2001-2009 periods.
Turkey became an importer in the agricultural sector
During the AKP period, the wheat acreage shrined by 1.3 million hectares and pulses industry experienced a dramatic picture. It is stated that: “We used to be the most important pulses exporting country in the world, but right now because of the wrong agricultural policies followed, our production decreased and our imports heavily increased. In this period, chickpea production of 650 thousand tons decreased to 530 thousand tons, dry bean production of 250 thousand tons declined to 205 thousand tons, red lentil production of 500 thousand tons fell to 422 thousand tons, and green lentil production of 65 thousand tons went back to 24 thousand tons. Turkey was forced to become a pulses importer country. Once we used to be a world leader in pulses, but right now imports from Canada are scheduled across the ocean. In 2009, a total of 213 thousand tons of grain products were imported and 207 million dollars was spent.” Tobacco production in Turkey almost came to an end. The number of planters decreased from 411 thousand to 73 thousand and the production amounts declined from 200 thousand tons to 55 thousand tons according to the statistics in 2010. Due to the wrong agriculture and livestock policies implemented in recent years, the number of animals in our country has been on a serious declining trend. Thus, our country that was once the exporter of livestock products has now become a meat importer country, which is the result of wrong policies being implemented.
The livestock sector is important to provide raw materials to the national industry alongside nutrition. Clothing and food industries that process meat, dairy, animal products such as leather are dependent on livestock.
Diesel doubled the gasoline in terms of price increases within the last year.
Let us look at how prices have increased for fertilizer and fuel since 2002. 21% ammonium sulphate fertilizer used to be 162 TL in 2002 and in 2012 it reached 590 TL. Within the same period, 26% Calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer price rose to 678 TL from 176 TL. Again, in 10 years, UREA’s price went from 237 TL to 1111 TL, the DAP price increased from 354 TL to 1,348 TL.
The inputs have increased that much, but which farmer product experienced an increase of 200-300% within 10 years?
Support given to fertilizer and diesel fuel is sometimes increased by 1-2 and sometimes it is not at all increased. Shortly, the price of inputs that farmers use during production is constantly increasing. But the price of the product does not increase at the same rate. The farmer cannot purchase fuel or fertilizers with the products he/she produces. The farmer cannot purchase lures with 1 kg of milk he/she produces. So, more than 3 million hectares of land remain idle in Turkey and 17 billion dollars’ worth of products is imported. This vicious cycle has to be broken. For sustainable agriculture, farmers should receive inputs that are at least on equal footing with other farmers in the world. If we look at current practices and developments in the market, it will not be wrong to say that in the upcoming period there will be no decline, but there will be increases in fertilizer and fuel prices.
Diesel support is worth 550 million and its tax equals to 3.5 billion.
As of February 2011, in Turkey each 3.37 TL paid for 1 liters of fuel consists of VAT+SCT (Special Consumption Tax) of 1.8 TL. Turkey finds itself among the top 5 countries with highest amount of farmers and pays the highest fuel price in the world. After calculating the cultivated area, out here which products of cultivation - planting is undertaken, accordingly, fuel costs consumed for each hectare, it is estimated that the taxes taken from farmers due to the fuel consumed in agriculture amounts 3.5 billion TL.
11 Basic Strategies of the New Agricultural Order
1. Our agricultural policy will be solving structural problems, lack of investment and will be reducing costs by increasing the efficiency, developing the sector's competitiveness, environmentally friendly, people-oriented.
2. For this purpose, 5 year periods of planning will be prepared that will understand the developments in the country and the world and so the most appropriate solutions will be created in a creative nature.
3. Food sovereignty and stable support system will be restructured to increase agricultural income, the quality and quantity of these supports will be held in accordance with the mentioned objectives and strategies.
4. Land Acquisition Office will distribute lands to the peasants without land or with not enough land with a new understanding of land reform.
5. All land of our country that has the possibility to be irrigated depending on technical and economic criteria will be irrigated by our investments.
6. Knowledge and use of technology in agriculture will be supported with special emphasis, seeds and breeding animals for material development and reproduction services will be provided, adequate and continuous resource allocation and organization of work will be established. For this, the possibilities of cooperation of public and private sector and also universities will be increased.
7. Modernization of agriculture and food businesses will be realized. This will strengthen public control towards business organizations and food safety issues in the area of internal and external markets will be removed.
8. Agricultural public organization will be restructured according to modern standards.
9. A marketing structure which will allow healthy, abundant and affordable food to be timely accessed by the consumer and which will exclude intermediary mechanisms will be implemented.
10. GAP investments will be specially emphasized and will be completed rapidly. Mined lands will be cleared of mines and they will be local opened for the use of farmers on agricultural purposes.
11. Special attention will be given to the population which is operates within the agricultural sector. The projects which are intended for training skilled manpower and for the improvement of vocational and technical features of business employees will be supported.