Reflections of Giving Right to Elect and be Elected to Women on Turkish Public Opinion
Seviay Özer
Keywords: Turkish Women, Right to Elect and Be Elected, Turkish Women’s Union
Abstract
The place and significance of women in society had started to be discussed with the declaration of Imperial Edict of Gülhane (Reorganization) in Ottoman Empire. The number of women organizations remarkably increased in the Second Constitutionalist Period. Turkish women took action in national resistance movement and put forward their fighting abilities. In the first years of Republic, with the adoption of the law on unification of education (Tevhid-I Tedrisat) and Civil Code, Turkish women gained the equal rights with men in education and social fields; Turkish Women Association and Turkish hearts had significant contributions in this process. Discussions about women's gaining political rights had been brought to the parliament agenda and in 1930, women gained the right to attend in municipal elections, in 1933, the right to elect and be elected as mukhtar and finally in 1934, the right to elect and be elected as deputy. Turkish women celebrated their happiness all around the country, from İstanbul to Ankara, from İzmir to Adana with great excitement and enthusiasm. In this study, developments in the field of women's rights after the proclamation of Republic will be analyzed and the feedbacks of women's gaining political rights will be explained through news and articles in media.