their lack of validity under the Turkish legal system.
For example, only 54 percent of women in civil
marriages indicated that, in the event of divorce,
the Civil Code would dictate the terms; 23 percent
said customary laws would govern divorce and 14
percent said religious laws would prevail (Ilkkara-
can 1998).
Women who were married in a religious cere-
mony but who had no civil marriage constitute a
distinct group without access to the legal system.
According to the Turkish constitution and the Civil
Code, only a civil marriage enacted by legally
authorized officials is considered a valid marriage
before the law. Religious marriage alone confers no
legally binding rights. In fact, according to law,
couples must have an officially documented civil
marriage before a religious marriage ceremony can
take place. Violation of this is a crime under Article
237 of the Penal Code, both for the person who
conducts the religious ceremony as well as for the
couple (WWHR – New Ways 2002). Despite these
legal provisions, 8.3 percent of married women liv-
ing in Turkey have only a religious marriage, and
thus have no recourse to the legal system on matters
relating to their marriage (SIS 1994).
Many women belonging to non-Turkish ethnic
groups, including Kurds, Zaza, and Arabs, have lit-
tle or no command of the Turkish language. They
are thus severely disadvantaged in terms of access-
ing the legal system, as the official language of all
governmental institutions, including judicial ones,
is Turkish.
While the reform of the Turkish Civil Code con-
stitutes a major step toward establishing gender
equality in Turkey, lack of substantive reforms in
legal, social, and political domains – such as a vari-
ety of coordinated state programs and services for
women, including legal counseling services, and
state programs to eradicate violence against women,
prevent gender discrimination in the educational
and economic spheres, and increase women’s par-
ticipation in political life – makes its real effect in
eradication of gender discrimination less of a suc-
cess story.Bibliography
P. Ilkkaracan and WWHR (Women for Women’s Human
Rights), Exploring the context of sexuality in eastern
Turkey, in Reproductive Health Matters, 6 (1998),
66–75, < http:// http://www.wwhr.org/?id=743>.
P. Ilkkaracan, Do(u Anadolu’da kadın ve aile, in A. B.
Hacimirzao(lu (ed.), 75 yılda kadınlar ve erkerler,
Istanbul 1998, 173–92.
N. Kardam, WWHR – New Ways women’s human rights
training program (1995–2003). Evaluation report,
Istanbul 2003.384 law: access to the legal system
SIS (State Institute of Statistics), Main indicators. Women
in Turkey, 1978–1993, Ankara 1994.
WWHR (Women for Women’s Human Rights) – New
Ways, The new legal status of women in Turkey,
Istanbul 2002.Pinar IlkkaracanWestern EuropeThe fifteen million-strong Muslim population of
Europe is now a well established part of the Muslim
diaspora, giving rise to a new form of “European
Islam.” The willingness and capacity of European
societies to accommodate the presence of Muslims
on the basis of religious difference has become a
particularly challenging political issue in many
states. The primary mechanism by which states
have accommodated Islamic difference is through
the establishment of particular legal provisions
addressing specific needs. Such accommodation is
problematic, however, as most European legal sys-
tems are avowedly secular in nature and aim to
maintain a centralist and uniform legal system
within national boundaries. The philosophy of sec-
ular liberalism that underpins most European con-
ceptions of law has prevented such states from
taking the more radical step of officially recogniz-
ing Sharì≠a as a legitimate counterpart to official
state law. Thus, although there are fundamental dif-
ferences of approach between European states in
the extent to which official laws have recognized
Muslim practices, states are united in their rejection
of formal recognition of Islamic law having status
and application equal to official laws. Con-
sequently, the question of official recognition of
Sharì≠a is one that affects Muslim men and women
equally. Crucial differences arise, however, in the
way legal rights are gendered to the detriment of
women in Sharì≠a, and the extent to which these are
sanctioned by European states.
Some of the main legal issues pertinent to Muslim
women are marriage, divorce, rights of inheritance,
child custody, the laws of evidence, and the wearing
of the ™ijàbin public spaces such as the workplace
and schools. The relationship between European
laws and Sharì≠a can be categorized in terms of
three models, all of which can be located on a spec-
trum which posits assimilation/absorption at one
end and pluralism/multi-culturalism at the other.
The first model consists of cases where the accom-
modation of Muslim difference is incorporated
into the fabric of official law. For example, it is
acknowledged that a woman must be afforded legal