On the Modernization Process of Turkish Women: A Symbol, Latife Hanoum

Abstract

The Lausanne Peace Treaty was signed in 24 July 1923, after the War of Independence. Turkey began to recover quickly; a new country and state structure was born, based on contemporary, democratic, social and secular foundations, which affected fields ranging from education, law, social innovation to politics. However, Turkey was late to begin to modernize, and was unfortunately far behind the political, social and economic developments of the West. Thus, a wide-ranging effort was made in every field in order to develop economically, and to reach the level of the civilized nations. The struggle, under the leadership of Mustapha Kemal Atatürk, this time was not against a human enemy, but against ignorance and backwardness. This arguably involved a much greater effort than fighting the enemy at the front, as it is undoubtedly very difficult to overcome conventions, prejudices and stereotypes which evolved over centuries. However, Mustapha Kemal Atatürk perfectly understood the Turkish people, their needs and characteristics, and always took these as a starting point for his revolutions. With patience and determination, he was able achieved the modernization of Turkish society through constant revolutions. While trying to realize democracy and national sovereignty in the political field, he also attempted to apply his principles of freedom, justice, equality and respect for human rights in all other fields. Thus, the one-person rule of the Sultan was ended, the sultanate was abolished, and the republic was declared. The new understanding in the political field that put the individual at the centre of the society and led to many long-awaited gains for Turkish women. The idea of the Republic, which considers men and women as equal individuals forming society, had liberated Turkish women in every aspect of art, culture, and economy, social and political life. Undoubtedly, valuable gains were made by the republic in terms of women's rights, building on the innovations brought by the change in mentality of the Tanzimat and Constitutional periods, and education reforms for girls, which had been extremely effective in making cultural and social progress. This study sets out to compare the place of Turkish women in social life during the Ottoman state period with the progress brought by Ataturk’s revolutions. Another important purpose of our study is to reveal how the British press perceived this process, and their role in promoting the position of Turkish women in the civilized world. In addition, we aimed to emphasize the importance of Latife Hanoum's contemporary education and skills as an example for Turkish women. During this research, contemporary first-hand sources and memories, and the relevant literature were examined.