On May 4^th 2011, The Turkish Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW Turkey) held a conference organized by the Istanbul Bilgi University with the participation of Minister of National Education, Nimet Çubukçu.

The United Nations Global Compact addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment in the work place, which was launched last year, has been recognized and adopted by Turkey’s private sector. This conference aimed at the business world, brought together representatives of civil society and the media to discuss the UN principles and their application within Turkey.

BPW Turkey’s Founding President, Desiree Özyol'un, gave the opening keynote, followed by an opening message from National Education Minister, Nimet Çubukçu. BPW International’s President, Liz Benham, spoke on behalf of the United Nations Global Contracting Office to highlight the important role of the private sector in applying the women's empowerment principles and the responsibility of business to help in the evaluation and further development of these principles.

Other speakers at the conference included Chairman of the Commission on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, Güldal Aksit; TOBB Chairman of the Board of Women Entrepreneurs, Aynur Bektas; KAGIDER Board Member, Sevim Gural; and International Trade Center Vice President, Meg Jones.