necessary condition of a democratic polity. Com-
munal norms, which have disregarded individual
rights, have long been causes of women’s discrimi-
nation as women themselves have argued. Working
through civil society and women’s organizations
that prioritize respect for individual rights, women
expanded the opportunities they could have as
individuals and defended their rights of public
expression, and/or religion, thereby contributing to
the liberalization of the polity.
Despite their cross-cutting cleavages and blurred
boundaries, it is possible to plot a division between
secular and Islamist women based on their self-
identification. Secular groups in search of rights
and opportunities included different socialist, radi-
cal, Kemalist or unidentified feminists, Kurdish
women and/or feminists, and mothers who organ-
ized to protest at the loss of relatives. Islamist
groups organized primarily in defense of their right
to wear headscarves in universities, though there
were some organized to promote Islamic life and
dispense charity.Secular feminists as members of
civil society
Women who called themselves feminists emerged
in the early 1980s and formed what they later rec-
ognized as consciousness-raising groups. Çirin
Tekeli, Stella Ovadia, and Çule Torun were the fore-
most feminist women in this early stage. In 1984,
the short-lived Kadın Çevresi (Women’s circle) a
book club that aimed to translate feminist works
and serve as a medium of feminist communication,
was formed. In 1986, Çirin Tekeli initiated a peti-
tion campaign in which 4,000 signatures were col-
lected to have the 1985 United Nations Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW) implemented by govern-
ment. In 1987 feminist women organized a march
and later a festival to protest against domestic vio-
lence. They drew attention for the first time in
Turkey’s history to this widespread problem, which
cut across class lines. The mobilizing spirit of the
campaign against domestic violence prompted the
emergence of feminist publications – called feminist
(sic) and Kaktüs –that allowed the crystallization of
radical feminist and socialist feminist ideas respec-
tively. Feminists institutionalized their demands for
expansion of women’s opportunities by establish-
ing the Women’s Library and Information Center
and the Purple Roof Women’s Shelter Foundation
in 1990 in Istanbul. In 1991, the Women’s Solid-
arity Foundation was established in Ankara and in
1993 this group opened the Altında(women’s shel-56 civil society and democracy ideologies
ter. On the issue of domestic violence, Kurdish
women established the center KA-MER (Kadın
Merkezi) in Diyarbakır in 1997. Meanwhile, other
women’s associations, platforms, initiatives, and
organizations arose to promote women’s rights, in-
cluding many beyond the major cities of the coun-
try and others among university students (Bora and
Günal 2002). The journal Pazartesi published
between April 1995 and March 2002 became an
organ of feminist dialogue and perspective. An
award-winning woman’s interest group was Kadının
÷nsan Hakları Projesi (Women for women’s human
rights), established in 1993 to work toward the
realization of women’s human rights. KADER, the
Association to Support and Educate Women Candi-
dates was initiated by some feminists in 1997 and
supported by a large coalition of women to pro-
mote women into parliament.
As this feminist activism surged, a group of
women, some of whom called themselves Kemalist
feminists, emerged in reaction to Islamist activism
that spread. They established a foundation in 1989
called Ça(daçYaçamı Destekleme Derne(i (Asso-
ciation to promote contemporary life) to promote
secular (that is, Kemalist) education and spread
Westward-looking official ideology to counter the
demands of the Islamists. They generated income
and scholarships to educate women in less devel-
oped regions of the country and the peripheral
areas of capital cities.
Meanwhile, feminism penetrated the state, and
public universities began opening women’s studies
centers and programs. Istanbul University Women’s
Research Center coordinated a petition campaign
in 1993, which about 119,000 women joined, to
have the Civil Code amended. The Civil Code,
which was adapted from the Swiss Code in 1926,
had inegalitarian clauses where the husband was
recognized as the head of the family and its repre-
sentative and the wife as his helper. The campaign
for the amendment of the Civil Code was endorsed
by a large coalition of feminists and women’s
groups. The association of Turkish women jurists
drafted the amendment. Although international
pressures were an important factor precipitating
change, the diverse feminist groups succeeded in
having the Law for the Protection of Family passed
in 1998 to protect women against domestic vio-
lence and the Civil Code amended by the end of- The new Civil Code abolished the supremacy
of the husband in the marriage union and, in cases
of divorce, allowed women to share the property
acquired during marriage.
Besides those who organized to promote their