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——,First find your child a good mother, New Bruns-
wick, N.J. 1992.B. Lacey AndrewsTurkeyGender and family relations in Turkey are influ-
enced by traditions stemming from the Ottoman-
Islamic heritage, pre-Islamic Turkic origins, and
Mediterranean culture, all interacting with the
processes of a revolutionary modernization. Turkey
is an extremely heterogeneous country and women’s
positions and gender relations in the family vary
significantly according to place of residence, level
of education, and professional status.
The position of women in the family and society
changed considerably after the Kemalist reforms,
which had the aim of establishing a secular nation-
state. However, the first initiatives for the emanci-
pation of women and democratization of family
relations were taken during the Tanzimat period, in
the latter half of the nineteenth century. The lead-
ing ideologue of Turkism, Ziya Gökalp, asserted
that a family morality based on ancient Turkish cul-
tural values included norms such as democracy in
the family, the equality of men and women, and
monogamous marriage (Kandiyoti 1995). Gökalp’s
ideas had a great influence on Mustafa Kemal Ata-
türk in the processes of Westernization, seculariza-
tion, and nation-building.
In 1926, the Turkish Civil Code, modeled after
the Swiss Code, was adopted. This law abolished
polygamy, and endorsed compulsory civil mar-
riage, the right of divorce for both partners, and
egalitarian inheritance laws. However, the civil law
failed to establish full legal equality between the
sexes since it contained several clauses that endorsed
a traditional male-headed family model and insti-
tutionalized women’s dependence on men (Arat
1994). In 2001, the Civil Code was amended. The
“head of the household” clause was eliminated,
each spouse acquired the right to represent the con-
jugal union, and a new regime ensuring sharing of
property after divorce was adopted.146 family relations
While legal reforms were important in securing
women’s rights, a basic ambiguity influencing
women and family relations was also institutional-
ized. Even though women’s education and partici-
pation in the public sphere were encouraged, their
main and most sacred duty was specified as moth-
erhood. The persistence of traditional role patterns
within families, the double burden of working
women, and strict control of female sexuality has
led to a labeling of Turkish women as “emanci-
pated but unliberated” (Kandiyoti 1987).
The success of legal reforms in changing women’s
conditions was limited to the extent that Islamic
traditions concerning sex roles have remained
socially valid, especially in rural areas (Toprak
1981). There have not been radical changes in the
status of peasant women who work full time as
unpaid family workers. Arranged marriage, demand
for bride price, marriage of underage girls, and boy
preference are common practices in rural areas.
In urban areas, arranged marriage is rapidly
declining and young people are afforded a relative
autonomy in their marriage decisions (Sunar 2002).
Marriage in order to start a family is almost uni-
versal: the marriage rate is above 90 percent. The
divorce rate is still low, with only around 6 per cent
of all marriages ending in divorce. Cohabitation
without formal marriage is rare and is often
morally stigmatized. Fertility rates vary signifi-
cantly with women’s level of education. While
women with lower levels of education give birth to
an average of 2.5 children, this number declines
to 0.8 children for women with higher education
(SIS 1998).
The bilateral kinship system in Turkey, in which
descent is traced equally through both males and
females, shows more similarity to Mediterranean
countries than to the patrilineal descent system of
most Middle Eastern Islamic countries (Baçtu(
2002). Kinship loyalties are strong and ties between
parents and children are very close. Children of
both sexes remain with their parents until marriage
and frequent interaction is maintained after mar-
riage. Families try to live near other kin and rou-
tinely exchange goods and informal services. The
social security system is not well developed in
Turkey and close family ties extending into kinship
relations serve an important function of security in
times of crisis and conflict. Wider kinship relations
are extremely important in both rural and urban
areas in Turkey among all social classes, despite the
high percentage of nuclear family residence (Duben
1982). The modern Turkish family does not exhibit
the pattern of separateness and autonomy of mem-
bers from one another and their wider kin but one