to serve as advisors to some courts, even if they con-
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A. Tabari et al. (eds.), In the shadow of Islam. The
women’s movement of Iran, London 1982.Haleh EsfandiariTurkeyIn Turkey, women’s formal political participa-
tion began with the rise of the Turkish Republic.
Although the governing party of the Ottoman
Empire’s last decade, the Union and Progress, had
defined itself as the “party of the male and female
Ottomans” (Çavdar 1991, 17) the issue of the
political rights of women never appeared on its
agenda. After the foundation of the Turkish
Republic, a group of women attempted to establish
a women’s party. This was not allowed by the single-
party authorities. The changes in the legal status of
women promoted by the state between 1920 and
1935 have been defined as one of the foremost
examples of state feminism in history (Tekeli 1990,
152). With great support from Atatürk, Turkish
women were granted political rights much earlier
than women in many Islamic or European coun-
tries. They were enfranchised for local elections in
1930 and subsequently for national elections in
1934.
From 1930 until 1946, there was overwhelming
support by single party leaders for increased
women’s participation in both local government
councils and the national assembly, with the adop-
tion of an informal quota system. In the 1935
national elections, 18 women (4.6 percent) were
elected to the parliament. With the advent of the
multi-party regime, however, a sharp decline in the
participation of women was observed. Until 1984,
the percentage of women parliamentarians ranged
between 0.61 and 1.76 (KSSGM 2001, 104). After
1984, a slight increase occurred, though the per-682 public office
centage did not surpass that of 1935. Although the
number of women taking an active role in politics
has increased in recent years, in the last general elec-
tion (2002), of 550 deputies elected into the parlia-
ment, 24 were women (4.5 percent). Of 365
deputies of the governing Justice and Development
Party (AKP), which holds a moderate Islamic posi-
tion and has recast itself as conservative-demo-
cratic, 13 are women. The Social Democratic
People’s Republican Party (CHP), the opposition
party, has 11 women deputies out of 177.
Between the years 1935 and 2004, only 126
women became members of parliament and nearly
half of them (48.9 percent) did not have the oppor-
tunity for a second term. Therefore, out of a total
8,517 seats women occupied only 183 (2.1 per-
cent). Women have mostly been elected from the
lists of majority parties.
Studies show that men play a critical role in
drawing women into politics. Women elected to
political office have been introduced to politics by
men. Party leaders have recruited daughters of emi-
nent “political families” because of their family
names. However, another pattern is that of apoliti-
cal women, with no previous political interest and
experience. These apolitical women have been
drawn into politics because of their high social or
professional standing (Arat-Pamuk 1990, 30–3;
Talaslı 1996, 206). Women parliamentarians have
been better educated and are more professional
than their male colleagues (Kovanlıkaya 2001,
425). With the rise of religious political parties, a
new counter-elite of women who dress according
to Islamic traditions has emerged. They participate
in the public domain and politics and are also
composed of urban, well-educated, and profes-
sional women.Women in government
In spite of their educational and occupational
superiority, women parliamentarians have been
underrepresented in government or in ministerial
posts. Since 1971, only 14 women have taken part
in 16 cabinets occupying 28 ministerial posts.
Women ministers have been mainly concentrated in
social areas such as women’s affairs, culture, and
tourism (78.6 percent) compared to legal (3.6 per-
cent), economic (10.7 percent), foreign affairs (3.6
percent), and internal affairs (3.6 percent). In 1993,
a woman (though hardly a feminist), Tansu Çiller,
the leader of the True Path Party (DYP), became the
first female prime minister in Turkey and served till
June 1996. Presently, in the AKP’s 23-member cab-
inet there is only one woman minister of state
responsible for women and family affairs.