on the history of turkish feminism

On the History of Turkish FeminismAuthor(s): Alexander SafarianSource: Iran & the Caucasus, Vol. 11, No. 1 (2007), pp. 141-151Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25597322 .

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brill Iran and the Caucasus 11 (2007) 141-151 ^ ?!*] <^

On the History of Turkish Feminism

Alexander Safarian Yerevan State University

Abstract

The paper deals with the several aspects of the history of Feminism in the Ottoman Empire. It elucidates the early stages of the formation of the Feministic ideas and

tendencies in the Turkish society at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Particular attention is paid to the social-political activities and the

role of the Turkish women writers Halide Edib, Arife Hanim, and others. The author

discusses inter alia the impact of the Armenian intellectual milieu and, especially, that of the Turkish Armenian women's literature on the inception and development of the Feministic literature in Turkey.

Keywords Feminism in Turkey, Pan-Turkism, Turkish Armenian Feminism, Turkish Journal ism, Ziya Gokalp, Halide Edib

The "Woman's Question", as formulated by Vladimir Gordlevskij, "never

practically existed in the Muslim community". Islam wrapped the woman in veil (gar?af), closing her way to public life... Until the reforms of Sultan Mahmud II, the Ottoman society was silent on the subject of woman. It was even considered improper to talk about her, to ask ques tions about her health, etc".1

Traditionally, the scholars studying this problem in the Ottoman

Empire are trying to associate the inception of Turkish Feminism with the period of Tanzimat and the activities of the "New Osmans". It is par ticularly noted that the first women's organisations were established in 1867. Those, however, had mainly a cultural and educational nature and

were not related to the social status of women; therefore, the signifi cance of the mentioned organisations should not be overestimated.

Practically, in that period the so-called Feministic activities in the coun

1 V. A. Gordlevskij, "Zenskaya dolya", Izbrannye socineniya, torn 3, Moscow, 1962:

16-17.

? Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007 DOI: 10.1163/157338407X224978



142 A. Safarian / Iran and the Caucasus 11 (2007) 141-151

try were concentrated in the capital-city and involved only well-to-do and educated women of a very restricted circle that was well isolated from the general public. It is quite true to say that during the Tanzimat, there was no change in the status of women.2

It is at the same time quite clear that prior to 1870s, no serious steps had been undertaken in the Ottoman Empire even in the domain of women's education. The matter in hand is the Muslim women's educa

tion, since in the Armenian and Greek millets the situation was compara

tively better, thanks to the dedication of certain intellectuals, both in

the 19th and the early 20th centuries.

Suppression and persecution of the free thought in Turkey attained such a degree that both election right or equality of rights were out of the question. The Turkish Feminism was reduced to complaints about the obsolete domestic laws. Meanwhile the Turkish Armenian reality displayed quite another type of Feminism. Despite the existing restric tions and persecutions, a part of the Armenian intellectuals presumed to raise the issues of women's freedom, equal rights and legitimate re

quirements. And it is not in the least strange that those issues were

later expanded by mostly women intellectuals. A special role in the in

ception and development of the Turkish Feminist literature was played

by the Armenian women writers Srbuhi Tusab and Zapel Asatur.3 Al

ready in the years of the Young Turks' rule, the works by the Armenian women writers were published in Turkish translation, so as to become somewhat familiar to at least the Turkish literary circles.

Although in 1869 they adopted a law on public education (with a

prototype in French legislation), it was well-known that the country lacked the needed educational staff, particularly female teachers. Only 1870 saw the opening of the female teachers college, which managed to

recruit only 30 students instead of the planned 50. The curriculum in

cluded courses in Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Theology, Arithmetic, His

tory, Geography, Music, Painting, and Needlework. Only decades after

2 See A. Dzafarova, "Iz istorii zenskogo dvizeniya v Turcii", Bliznij i Srednij Vostok

Istoriya, ekonomika (Sbornik statej), Moscow, 1967: 30-37; see also Selim Niizhet, Tixrk

Gazeteciligi, Istanbul, 1931: 49; A. D. Zeltyakov, Pecaf v obscestvenno-politiceskoj i kuY

turnoj zizni Turcii (1729-1908), Moscow, 1972:147-148. 3 See Enovk' Armen, "Mer kin grolera", Masis (a weekly tabloid), Constantinople,

1905, N 30: 471-475; also Masis, 1907, N 11: 201-204; see also A. M. Minasyan, Sipil (la

pel Asatur), Erevan, 1980: 80; A. S. Xaratyan, Hasarakakan mitk'd Zmyufniayi hay parbe rakan mamulum (1840-1900), Erevan, 1995: 215-216, 288-290.



A. Safarian / Iran and the Caucasus 11 (2007) 141-151 143

the foundation this institution adopted a sustainable structure, while up to 1895 it was to remain in a deplorable situation.4

In an article published in the Ibret newspaper (November 12, 1872, No. 56) titled Aile ("Family"), the "Ideological Father" of Ziya Gokalp and

Mustafa Kemal, Namik Kemal angrily criticised the practice of settling the underage daughters off without regard to their wishes. The author

exclaimed: "How long living with our next of kin under the same roof

shall we remain estranged from one another, tolerating the husbands

beating their wives, the parents giving off their daughters to the next

man, into slavery, with no regard to their desires...".5 Published in 1899 was the book "The Liberation of Woman" by Kasim Amin, an original experience of systematic presentation of the women's problems, with a

consecutive emphasis of the idea that the inequality of the Muslim woman is not caused by Islam at all. In the same year of 1899, a booklet was published by Mahmud Esad, which was an apology of the Muslim

family rights, justifying polygyny. Even the most timid steps aimed at creating the system of women's

education encountered a powerful opposition from the clerical circles. In 1874-1875, there were only twenty-five elementary school for girls; in 1877 nine second-degree elementary schools were added; and even

those modest statistics are presented by the researchers as an apparent success.6

Some isolated issues of the emancipation of women, indeed, found their way to the Turkish media and dramatic art; however, it is difficult to agree with the wishful thinking that "the struggle for the education

of women and for liberating the Turkish woman from the medieval Is

lamic yoke occupied the progressive minds of the Turkish society", as

4 See in detail A. Afetinan, Atatiirk ve Turk kadin haklarinin kazanilmasi, Istanbul,

1964: 79; A. D. Zeltyakov, Yu. A. Petrosyan, Istoriya prosvesceniya v Turcii, Moscow, 1965: 58-59, Dzafarova , op. cit.: 30-31.

5 Apud: F. S. Sabanov, Gosudarstvennyj stroj i pravovaya sistema Turcii v period Tanzi

mata, Baku, 1967: 168-169; see also A. D. Novikov, Istoriya Turcii, IV. Novoe vremya

(1853-1875), Leningrad, 1978: 138. There exist many publications on Namik Kemal

and on the subject of women in his works, see Xajbula Kyamilev, U istokov sovremen

noj tureckoj literatury (Tureckie pisateli-prosvetiteli vtoroj poloniny XIXv.), Moscow, 1967:

61-88; Zeltyakov, op. cit.: 8,10, 74-81, 83, 85, 88, 94-98, 118-121, 123, 124, 126-129; V.

Stambulov, Namyk KemaV, Moscow, 1935; Ali Ekrem, Namik Kemal, Istanbul, 1930; S.

Niizhet Ergun, Namik Kemal: Hayati ve ?iirleri, 1933; Z. Fahri Findikoglu, Namik Kemal

ve ideolojisi, Istanbul, 1939; Mehmet Kaplan, Namik Kemal, Istanbul, 1948; Hikmet Diz

daroglu, Namik Kemal, Istanbul, 1952; Ali Ertem, Namik KemaVin $iirleri, Istanbul, 1957; Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, 19uncu Asir Tixrk Edebiyati Tarihi, Istanbul, 1976: 342- 444; etc.

6 See Dzafarova, op. cit.: 31.




noted by some authors.7 Well-known Turkish writers and journalists, like Ibrahim ?inasi, Namik Kemal, Ahmed Midhat, and others, indeed,

mentioned in their works the suppression of women's rights, and were

particularly coming forward against the forced marriage; however they could never oppose the fundamental norms and Islamic regulations concerning women.

The Tanzimat facilitated the appearance of only a few Muslim women writers and journalists, like Lundi Kazi, who published in Athens the journal "The Turkish Woman", trying to promote the ideas of both the liberation of women and rehabilitation of the Constitution. The women journalists were published in the periodicals Hiirriet, Terakh, and Ibret, opposing polygyny, forced marriage, and women trading.

Apparently, the movement for the liberation of women in the Otto man Empire acquired a distinct outline only after the Young Turk

Revolution, but its projection was already seen in the works by the late 19th century writers.

Published in the Serveti fiiniin journal, which played an exclusive role in the history of Turkish literature and media, were the woman prose

writer Fatma Aliye (1862-1924) and the poetry writer Nigar Hanim

(1856-1918). In the Turkish journalism, too, women started to be active in that

period. In 1883-1884, Arife Hanim in Istanbul started to publish the

journal $iikufezar for women. In the introduction to this journal, the Edi tor noted in particular that women could achieve success through lit

erature, education and cultural communication. She even raised the is sue of equality between men and women. Arife Hanim protested against the Ottoman society maintaining androcentric ideas and a pejorative at

titude towards women,8 which were expressed in the well-known Turk ish saying about woman: "long hair, but short brain".9 Cooperating with

this journal were naturally women from the upper strata of society. In 1892, the spouse journalists Ibnulhakki Tahir and ?adle Hanim

started the publication of the illustrated "Paper for women" (Hammlara mahsus gazete). It aimed at raising the level of women's education, pub

lishing the pieces written by female authors, narrating about women's

7 Dzafarova, ibid.. On the Islamic Feminism, see also Margot Bardan, "Islam, Pat

riarchy and Feminism in the Middle East", Trends in History, 4(l), 1985: 49-71; Laila

Ahmad, "Feminism and Feminist Movements in the Middle East. A Preliminary Ex

ploration: Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen", Women

Studies International Forum, V, 1982:153-168. 8 Cf. M. S. Qapanoglu, Basin Tarihine dair Bilgelir ve Hatiralar, Istanbul, 1962: 31-32.

9 In Turkish: Sagi uzun, akh kisa (see also Gordlevskij, op. cit.: 17).




progress, etc. A large part of this paper was occupied by teaching mate rials designed for female schools, essays about Muslim women; also

printed were news, names of books, with the last page dedicated to non Muslim women's photos, who had gained recognition in the public or

cultural life of their countries. The circulation of these periodical some times reached 2,5 thousand copies. The paper survived up to 1908. The same journalists at the same time published 1,5 thousand copies of the

"Paper for Children" (Qocuklara mahsus gazete), which was designed for

military cadets and for minors. In the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, mention was often

made in the history of women's movement of the notable women writ ers Nazihe Muhettin, Emine Semiye Hanim, Selma Rizai, Miifide Ferid, and particularly Halide Edib.

The name of Halide Edib was mentioned in Turkgiilixgixn Esaslan ("The

Principles of Turkism") by Ziya Gokalp as one of the writers that had rendered an exclusive service to Turkism.10

Halide Edib was born in Istanbul in 1884 in the family of Mehmed Edib Bey, graduated from the American Female College in Uskiidar. She received private lessons from prestigious Turkish intellectuals in Ara

bic, Turkish music, Mathematics, Philosophy, Literature, and the Qur'an. She found refuge in Egypt, and then moved to England. In 1909 she started to lecture in the female pedagogical college (Ddrul-Mualimat). In 1910 she published the novel "Seviye Talib", which was particularly

mentioned by Vladimir Gordlevskij.11 Halide Edib died in 1964 in Istan bul.12

The novel Yeni Turan ("New Turan") by Halide Edib is a Utopia that was printed in instalments in the paper Tanin in 1912. It is manifestly

10 Ziya Gokalp, Tiirkciiliigiin Esaslan, Istanbul, 1961: 11. During many years Halide

Edib closely cooperated with Ziya Gokalp and was one of the activists of the Pan

Turkist movement. She was among the founders of the strongly nationalistic and in

fluential society Yeni lisan ("New Language") (together with Ziya Gokalp, Ata Gun

duz, Abdullah Cevdet, and Husein Cahid). The society was established by the initia tive of Ziya Gokalp and pursued the following aims: l) The purging from Turkic life of foreign and pernicious influences, revival of the old Turkic (Asiatic) culture, and

purification of the Turkish language by eliminating Persian and Arabic loan-words; 2) Scientific determination of the ethnic and cultural community of all "Turanians", i. e. Turks, Mongols, Tunguz, Finno-Ugric and other Uralo-Altaic peoples; etc. (see S. A. Zenkovsky, Pan-Turkism and Islam in Russia, Cambridge, 1960:107, 299). 11

See V. A. Gordlevskij, Ocerki po novoj osmanskoj literature, Moscow, 1912:146. 12 About the activities of Halide Edib in the public life of the country during 1935-1940, see G. Jaschke, Die Turkei in denjahren 1935-1941, Leipzig, 1943, ?? 2.8.5, 5.3, 10.6.9,21.12.0.




permeated with the ideological influence by Ziya Gokalp. Although the novel centres on a woman, it is not only a love plot. The main character

Kaya is an active partaker in public life, the girlfriend of Oguz, one of the leaders of the movement of Turanism. Both of them are carried

away by the idea to establish a boundless Turan; however, Oguz falls victim to the craftiness of their opponents. Nevertheless, the cause of Turanism wins.13 In the future, however, this woman writer changed her ideological settings. Much later, in one of her publications she noted that Pan-Turkism "is a very dangerous game".14 Also in her memoirs Halide Edib noted that the "New Turan" had resulted from the direct influence of Ziya Gokalp, rather than from the current ideological ten

dencies.15

Pi " J^k. 14 JKLlWreLTILi AskJTL ^__l_|

& m % ^m _j* # *^lfe^Hj__^H^H

Halide Edib accompanying Kemal Atatiirk in Gebze

Following Turkey's defeat in the Balkan war of 1913 Halide Edib de livered public lectures, which were published in the journal Turk Yurdu under the title oiFelaketten soma milletler ("Nations after Disaster"). Here the pathos of hatred towards the Balkan Slavonic nations is merged

13 See L. 0. Al'kaeva, Ocerki po istorii tureckoj literatury (1908-1939), Moscow, 1959:

175-176. 14 Halide Edib Adivar, Tiirkiyede ?ark-Garp ve Amerikan Tesirleri, Istanbul: 100; E.

Yu. Gasanova, Ideologiya burzuaznogo nacionalizma v Turcii, Baku, 1966:16 -17. 15 Memoirs of Halide Edib, vol. 1, London, 1926: 322; Gasanova, op. cit.: 131-132.




with the slogans to spread the national spirit, to develop the Turkish

culture, trade and engineering. The Turkish disaster, as seen by the

author, was caused by ignorance, laziness, underdevelopment, and total indifference to all things, including Homeland. The author's guidance is to read papers and books, to be aware of the issues of history. "It is your duty", was the advice of the Turkish authoress to her female compatri ots.16

The active public and political figure Emine Semiye Hanim, who, as noted by Halide Edib, was the only representative of women in the Or

ganisation Ittihad ve Terakki ("Union and Progress"),17 wrote in one of her articles: "The first seeds of conscientious objection against suppres sion and slavery were sewn in my soul by the daughter of France Mme.

Verand, the wife of a Gendarmerie general... She made me understand that it was time for the Turkish woman to wake up, to open her eyes... I started to gather the women that I knew. We organised secret meetings,

where we tried to persuade our female audience that we could not stay aside from the current struggle that we had to consolidate and to work in the name of liberating our Motherland hand-in-hand with our broth ers and husbands... It was at that time that we got engaged in a system atic planning and participation in the struggle for liberation that was

going on under the banner of the new generation...".18 One can perhaps remember also the facts when women used the

immunity of the harem, helping the "Union and Progress" committees to hide the leaflets and other politically sensitive articles.

On July 23, 1908 (the day of rehabilitating the Constitution) there were attempts by women to go out in the streets with no veil on, which seemed to be in tune with the general revolutionary euphoria. In newly emerging women's national clubs lectures were read on subjects of gen eral education. The journal Kadin ("Woman") started to be published in Istanbul. In the 1910s, the Turkish media unfolded a vivid discussion be tween those who supported and those who opposed the freedom of women, whereby the two sides naturally saw the substantiation of their views in the Islamic statements, while the protagonists of emancipation declared that non-representation of women in public life would prevent the Turks from implementing their historical objectives.

16 Turk Yurdu, c. IV, 1913: 529; For Halide Edib's other works, see Heyuld (1909),

Raikm Annesi (1909), Handan (1912), Son Eseri (1913), Mevut Hiikiim (1917), Atesten Gbmlek (1922), Kalb Agnsi (1924), Zeynonun Oglu (1927), Sinekli Bakkal (1935), Sonsuz Panayis (1946), Doner Ayna (1953), A/ci/e Hanim Sokagi (1958), Hayat Parcalan (1963), etc.

17 Memoirs of Halide Edib, ibid.: 258.

18 Apud: 1.1. Beloborod'ko (I. Yuzanin), Staraya i novaya Turciya, Moscow, 1908: 58.




The principal issues of women's education and legal status were elu cidated in diverse periodicals, particularly in Tanin, the most influential

paper of the Young Turks. Ariadna Tyrkova gave the following picture of the wife of the Editor

of the mentioned Tanin journal Husein Cahid: "...Husein Cahid's wife re ceived no education, talked only Turkish, and was very distant from the

complex interests and experiences of her husband. Outside the editorial office Husein Cahid's home lived within the Turkish traditions coming from the old times. The small spokes on the lattice of the windows sym bolised the detachment of his wife from the outside influences".19

A certain increase in the popularity of the women's movement re

sulting from the 1908 Revolution, as well as the growing number of pe riodicals facilitating the progress of women's education, naturally elic ited resistance on the part of the clergy and the conservative circles. It is known that the upsurge following the Young Turk Revolution contin ued but a very short time.20

In the years of Young Turks' rule, published in the periodicals were even the literary pieces of the "Fathers of Turkism", where women's

rights issues were raised to the national level. To be noted is the well known poem Anadolu ("Anatolia") by Mehmed Emin,21 published in the

journal Turk Yurdu, whereby the author tries to sympathise with the Turkish woman on account of her wretched situation. The content of the poem is as follows. The poet moves along dreary fields coming across a tormented, exhausted, ragged woman, whose husband has been killed in war, whose family has neither land, nor cattle, are feeding on

herbs. Answering the exclamation of the wretched woman, why Istan

19 Ariadna Tyrkova, Staraya Turciya i mladoturki. God v ^Constantinople, Petrograd,

1916:117. 20

The French historian Paul Gentizon noted that the 1908 Revolution was tran

sitory for the legal institutions of the Ottoman Empire, being rather political than

social. This revolution, as is known, was restricted to inter-partisan struggle, while

the Constitution-based laws were subordinated to the norms of Shariat (P. Gentizon,

Mustafa Kemal ou VOrient en marche, Paris, 1929: 213); cf. also G. Z. Aliev, Turciya v peri od pravleniya mladoturok (1908-1918), Moscow, 1972: 95-202; V. I. Spil'kova, Mladoturec

kaya revolyuciya 1908-1909 godov, Moscow, 1977: 159-268; M. Kocar, Armyano-tureckie

obscestvenno-politiceskie otnoseniya i Armyanskij vopros v konce XlX-nacale XXvv., Erevan,

1988:154-221. 21

Yurdakal Mehmet Emin (1869-1944) was a poetry writer and one of the promi nent ideologists of Pan-Turkism (see Hilmi Yiicebas,, Milli $airimiz Mehmet Emin Yur

dakul, Istanbul, 1947; A. Ferhan Oguzkan, Mehmet Emin Yurdakul, Istanbul, 1953; ?em settin Kutlu, Servetifiinun Donemi Turk Edebiyati Antolojisi, Istanbul, 1972: 379-394; Mo

dern Tiirkiyede Siyasi Dixsiince, cilt 4, Istanbul, 2002: 269, 350, 361, 411, 430, 590, 642,

803).




bul is so cruel and alien towards them, and whether all the (female) dwellers of the Turkish provinces are condemned to the destiny of cat

tle, the author responds: "No, no, it is not for that that you were born. You were to relish happiness within your own home, to be a mother and to teach your children. You are the dearest friend; your voice inspires us to brave exploits, in the cause of Motherland. Your face reminds me

of human mercy, you are embellishment of life. We drove into oblivion all your rights. We viewed the woman as a cattle; she was despised. The cares of the whole nation have fallen on your fragile shoulders. That burden is destroying you. And you are burning out in your own country, as if it were in hell...".22

V. Gordlevskij described a few cases of Turkish women's activities

during the 1912-1913 Balkan war. He writes: "Pushing aside the century old religion-enforced prejudices, the women emerged on the battlefield, as nurses alleviating the suffering of the wounded men. There were

newly emerging companies helping the poor girl students, giving rise to

the Women's Crescent Company and the Company for Women's Rights. Bedir Osman originating from a notable rich Turkish family, to open the

way to women's employment, despite all obstacles, accepted a job of

telephone operator; Belkis ?evket applied to Ahmed Celal-pa?a for a job and was admitted to the pilot school. Her photo was displayed at the

Military Museum as an example of female bravery".23 It is clear that the Ittihad leaders could hardly be unanimous either

about religion, or about emancipation of women. There was a great gap between the words and deeds of even the most advanced persons.

At the time of starting and establishing the Kemalist Movement and the Turkish Republic both Ziya Gokalp and a number of other thinkers and state officials saw the substantiation of the Turkish Feminism and the deployment of relevant subsequent activities within the framework of Turkish nationalism or Turkishness (Tixrkgulixk, Millietgilik) and the Turkish populism (Halkgilik)2A Ziya Gokalp prioritised the matter of

creating the contemporary family, noting that in a modern state there should be new laws on family (aile kanunu), marriage, divorce, heredity, political rights, election rights (intihabat kanunu), equality, etc.25

On January 31, 1923, when talking to an audience in Izmir, Mustafa Kemal Atatiirk shared his ideas on raising the role of the Turkish woman. "The divine force, he said, produced people in the form of two

22 Turk Yurdu, c. I-II, 1911-1912: 413.

23 See Gordlevskij, "Zenskaya dolya": 18.

24 Ziya Gokalp, op. cit.: 115.

25 Ibid.: 118, also 40-41.




genders. They are necessary to each other. The reason of the failure of our society is the disrespect and misbehaviour with regard to our women. People came into the world in order to live as predestined. Living means activity. For this reason, when some public body is active, while the other is idle, that society is a cripple. For any society to be

successful, it has to be inscribed into the circle of conditions stipulating its ability to succeed. For this reason, if our country needs science and

engineering, our men and women will have to master them equally. Everyone knows that like in every domain in society there is also divi sion of labour. In this total division of responsibilities the women, in

parallel with their inherent duties should be engaged in total work needed for the welfare and good fortune of society. The domestic duties of a woman are the easiest and most unimportant ones. The greatest duty of the woman is motherhood... Our nation is determined to become a strong nation. One of today's priorities is the many-sided elevation of woman. Our women will duly specialise in science and engineering and will climb all intellectual positions accessible to men. Men and women

will subsequently walk in step in life, with mutual help and support".26 Opening the first session of Meclis' second term in 1924, speaking in

detail on the imperative need of legislative reforms, Mustafa Kemal said: "The way we shall proceed along the civil rights and family rights will be exclusively the way of civilisation".27

26 See the Turkish original: Kudreti fatira insanlari iki cins olarak yaratmi?tir. Bunlar

yekdigerlerinin lazim ve melzumudur... Bizim heyeti ictimaiyemizin ademi muvaffakiyetinin sebebi kadinlarimiza karsi gosterdigimiz tekdsul kusurdan neset etmektedir. Insanlar diinya ya mukadder olduklari kadar yasamak icin gelmislerdir. Yasamak demek faaliyet demektir.

Binaenaleyh bir heyeti ictimaiyenin bir uzvu faaliyette bulunurken diger uzvu atalette olursa o heyeti ictimaiye mefluctur. Bir heyeti ictimaiyenin hayatta calismasi ve muvaffak olmasi

igin cahsmanxn ve muvaffak olabilmenin mutevakkif oldugu biitiin esbab ve seraiti tekabbiil

etmesi icabeder. Binaenaleyh bizim heyeti ictimaiyemiz icin ilim ve fen lazim ise bunlari aym derecede hem erkek ve hem de kadinlarimizin iktisap etmeleri lazimdir. Malumdur ki, her

safhada oldugu gibi hayati ictimaiyede dahi taksimi vezaif vardir. Bu umumi taksimi vezaif arasinda kadinlar kendilerine ait olan vezaifi yapacaklan gibi aym zamanda heyeti ictimai

yenin refahi, saadeti icin elzem olan mesaii umumiyeye dahi dahil olacaklardir. Kadinin ve

zaifi beytiyesi en ufak ve ehemmiyetsiz vazifesidir. / Kadinin en biiyiik vazifesi analiktir...

Milletimiz kuvvetli bir millet olmaya azmetmistir. Bugiiniin levazimindan biri de kadinlari

mizin her hususta yiikselmelerini temindir. Binaenaleyh kadinlanmiz da alim ve mutefennin olacaktir ve erkeklerin gectikleri biitiin derecati tahsilden gececeklerdir. Soma kadinlar haya ti ictimaiyede erkeklerle beraber yiiriiyerek birbirinin muin ve muzahiri olacaklardir (Ata tiirkun Sbylev ve Demecleri II (1906-1938), Ikinci ba?ki, Turk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi,

Ankara, 1959: 85-86). 27

Cf. Hukuk-u medeniyede, hukuk-u ailede takip edecegimiz yol ancak medeniyetyolu olacaktir (Atatiirk'iin Soylev ve Demecleri I (1919-1938), Ikinci ba?ki, Turk Tarih Kurumu

Basimevi, Ankara 1961:329).




It was only after the death of Ziya Gokalp in 1926 that women re

ceived equal rights with men by law (except election right, which they received later on).28 The law banned polygyny, gar?af, and marriage be fore 18. In 1927, women were allowed to work at state-run institutions. New women's colleges were opened in Istanbul and Ankara. In 1928, fe male teachers' colleges opened in music and physical culture special ties.

The Kemalist reforms have actually opened the way for the Turkish woman to speedily penetrate nearly all domains of the Turkish public, political, and economic life. That, however, has been the case for mostly urban residents, particularly the metropolitan area. In the provinces the woman's situation still remained very distant from freedom. "The

Beauty of Anatoia" was not yet aware of the rights awarded to her by the new political system of the country, for she was, first and foremost, illiterate. She knew of only one authority, the authority of man, who

exploited her as free labour. First it was father, then husband, and then his brother, if husband is dead. Generally speaking, in the Turkish

province, the laws of life were stronger than the official laws. And that is quite natural. It is impossible in a comparatively short time to sus

pend the power of tradition and to introduce the new domestic stan dards. Even today, in the actual reality of the Turkish provincial life, there are a lot of cases of polygyny and trade in girls. Perhaps, for many decades to come the official legislature will not be able to prevail over the traditional approaches.

28 The women in Turkey received their election rights for the first time in 1930 at municipal elections. Their first-time participation in parliamentary elections was

in 1935 (see Frederick W. Frey, The Turkish Political Elite, Cambridge, 1965:154-155).



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