Feminist Movement in Turkey in the 1990s

Abstract

According to a feminism worldview, women should have economic, social, civil, political, and cultural rights. For this, women need to go a long, controversial and interesting path. On the one hand, they are aware of their place in society, in the state, and on the other hand, they are trying to change the cultural norms that cause oppression. Turkey is the only country in which the majority of the population is Muslim, and at the same time, it is a candidate for EU membership. Turkey has managed to create a progress-oriented state. This is a well-planned and calculated path with predetermined steps, paved with the reforms of the founder of the republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938). The problem of feminism is one of the most lively topics in republican Turkey. The processes taking place in the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century prepared a solid ground for further development of the feminist movement. On October 29, 1923, after Turkey was declared a republic, the feminist movement took a new direction. The feminist movement in Turkey went through three periods. The first period includes the processes of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and “Europeanization”, which led to the advancement of the women’s problems to the fore and the active struggle for the rights and place of educated Ottoman women in society. The second period was determined by the civil law on the participation of women in elections, adopted in republican Turkey in 1926. And the third one was the period of the 1990s, when the feminist movement became more widespread and active. Feminist policies have been founded and carried out, the role of women in government structures has increased; feminist organizations were created in Istanbul, Ankara and Antalya, etc. In the 1990s, the movement of Muslim feminists, Islamist women, known as “Islamic feminism”, became active in Turkey. After the creation of the republic in Turkey, religious associations came under the direct subordination and control of the state. There have been prepared various projects to solve women’s problems. Centers for the study of women’s issues have been opened at universities. For the first time, women spoke openly about sexual freedom, etc.