Abstract:

Women, who had an important power and respected status in state administration in pre-Islamic Turkish states, were later excluded from social life in Ottoman society. Especially after the Tanzimat Edict, the daughters of elite families began to take a prominent role in the defense of women's rights. Women's associations and feminist newspapers established in the Ottoman Empire, brought the women's movement and women's demands to the agenda of social life. After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey significant efforts were made to ensure that women could receive the same education as men and participate in the social life on an equal basis with men. With the adoption of the Turkish Civil Code in 1926, significant progress was made in terms of equality between women and men in the family and social life. In 1934, Turkish women became legally equal to men in politics, even before many European countries.