Women issues in Turkey

Abstract

Women's status in Turkey has changed drastically during the twentieth century. More than any other country in the Islamic world, Turkey made an early and deliberate effort to move away from its Muslim traditions and initiate the secular form of state. Turkish women were expected to benefit from this engagement with Western values and approaches. Now with the passage of more than 70 years it is possible to evaluate this experience in relation to the impact of secularisation on the human rights of Turkish women, particularly whether the governmental policies adopted at the institutional level have been implemented at the behavioral level. The Turkish experience is of interest in its own right, but it also throws light on the more generic challenge of relying upon law and rights to overcome the constraining bonds of a traditional Islamic cultural heritage.