Veysel Gençten did not use a camera for this film. It was done by 150,000 pictures put together. They worked for 5 years to finish it and this is the result.
"Istanbul" by Veysel Gençten
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Juxtaposition
http://www.danheller.com/
http://www.ortakantin.com/
Kybele,
was one of the most important Asian mother goddesses, probably originating as a mountain goddess, who became equated with the Greek goddesses Rhea and Demeter. According to legend Zeus raped her and she bore a monstrous son Agdistis. Her consort was Attis who was unfaithful to her, and in remorse, after Kybele's discovery of his transgression, castrated himself under a pine tree and bled to death.
About 204 BC the black stone by which she was personified in Pessinus (Phrygia) was carried to Rome and installed in the Temple of Victories on the Palatine as Cybele Magna Mater; thus fulfilling a prophecy that if the "great mother" was brought to Rome, the war with the invader Hannibal would be won. She is frequently depicted riding in a chariot drawn by panthers or lions and is accompanied by frenzied dancers or Konybantes. She was invoked in the three-day festival commencing with mourning (tristia) followed by joy (hiralia) in the spring during which her emasculated priests, the galloi, gashed themselves with knives. Her attributes included the key, mirror, and pomegranate.
About 204 BC the black stone by which she was personified in Pessinus (Phrygia) was carried to Rome and installed in the Temple of Victories on the Palatine as Cybele Magna Mater; thus fulfilling a prophecy that if the "great mother" was brought to Rome, the war with the invader Hannibal would be won. She is frequently depicted riding in a chariot drawn by panthers or lions and is accompanied by frenzied dancers or Konybantes. She was invoked in the three-day festival commencing with mourning (tristia) followed by joy (hiralia) in the spring during which her emasculated priests, the galloi, gashed themselves with knives. Her attributes included the key, mirror, and pomegranate.
Cybele (Phrygian: Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya "Kubeleyan Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Greek: Κυβέλη Kybele, Κυβήβη Kybebe, Κύβελις Kybelis), was the Phrygian deification of the Earth Mother. As with Greek Gaia (the "Earth"), or her Minoan equivalent Rhea, Cybele embodies the fertile Earth, a goddess of caverns and mountains, walls and fortresses, nature, wild animals (especially lions and bees). Phrygian Cybele is often identified with the Hittite-Hurrian goddess Hebat. The goddess was known among the Greeks as Μήτηρ (Mētēr "Mother") or Μήτηρ Ὀρεία ("Mountain-Mother"), or, with a particular Anatolian sacred mountain in mind, Idaea, in as much as she was supposed to have been born on Mount Ida in Anatolia, or equally Dindymene or Sipylene, with her sacred mountains Mount Dindymon (in Mysia and variously located) or Mount Sipylus in mind. In Roman mythology, her equivalent was Magna Mater or "Great Mother". Her Ancient Greek title, Potnia Theron, also associated with the Minoan Great Mother, alludes to her Neolithic roots as the "Mistress of the Animals". She becomes a life-death-rebirth deity in connection with her resurrection of her son and consort, Attis. She is associated with her lion throne and her chariot drawn by lions. The cult of the Great Mother, Meter, presents a complex picture insofar as indigenous, Minoan-Mycenean tradition is here intertwined with a cult taken over directly from the Phrygian kingdom of Asia Minor"[1][2] The inscription matar occurs frequently in her Phrygian sites (Burkert). Kubileya is usually read as a Phrygian adjective "of the mountain", so that the inscription may be read Mother of the Mountain, and this is supported by Classical sources (Roller 1999, pp. 67–68). Another theory is that her name can be traced to the Luwian Kubaba, the deified queen of the Third Dynasty of Kish worshiped at Carchemish and Hellenized to Kybebe (Munn 2004, Motz 1997, pp. 105-106). With or without the etymological connection, Kubaba and Matar certainly merged in at least some aspects, as the genital mutilation later connected with Cybele's cult is associated with Kybebe in earlier texts, but in general she seems to have been more a collection of similar tutelary goddesses associated with specific Anatolian mountains or other localities, and called simply "mother".
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/Monday, March 30, 2009
Do women have a name in Turkey?
When her family forced her to kill herself Elife Atlıhan was only 15 years old. She told her family that she was raped by her cousin when she couldn’t hide her pregnancy any longer. When her cousin denied this allegation, her mother gave her a rope and told her to clean up her honour. Her brother was told to check on her to see if she will do the job right! He found her crying. Because the chair was not high enough so she couldn’t hang herself. Her brother helped her. When he came back Elife was dead. (March 2003)[1]
Even after 5 years, lives are still being taken in the same way, with the same primitive and ignorant attitude. What does it mean to be a woman in Turkey? A country that is so keen on being a full member of the European Union. Where are the limits of woman rights? Who are setting the limits? Who is making the decisions? Do women in Turkey have a name? As the well known Turkish writer Duygu Asena once said: “We have come a long way but we still have a long way to go”.
A Brief history of Feminism in Turkey
The Pre-Republican period
In 1839, during Tanzimat period, Sultan Abdűlmecid declared a series of reforms which was influenced by Europe and addressed women’s issues, which were viewed as a part of "modernisation". Considering that the European women’s movement started with the French Revolution in 1789, this was a delay of about half a century. With the education of women, a "civilised" and "western" population would emerge.[2] Although the reforms were not especially directed at changing the status of women, Ottoman women were affected by the economic, social, political, judicial and ideological transformation and started to acquire a better social and legal position in society.[3] A small circle of educated women started to become involved in public debates about women's rights.[4] In the new atmosphere of freedom created by the Tanzimat Era (1839-1876), a number of exclusive women’s organizations were formed and new women’s journals[5] began to appear. The writings of Ottoman women showed that there was a visible feminist aspiration among urban Ottoman women. Several women’s journals were published in major Ottoman cities, in which women writers addressed women’s issues, along with more general problems of the country. Prior to the pre-Republican period (1919-1923), there were at least forty women’s journals, most of which were owned and published by men. A few of them had male owners but were actually published by women. Some were owned by women and had only women writers. The women writing in these journals focused on a number of issues. One prominent theme in their articles was their disappointment with the new era of “freedom”. Freedom, they argued, turned out to be only freedom for men, and reformists had forgotten their pledge to emancipate women once they obtained state power.
With the İkinci Meşrutiyet (Second Constitutional Regime) the role of women’s magazines in the changing society became more clearly defined. The magazines of this period were an important factor in the adoption of Western life-style and behaviour. The most dramatic illustrations of this new direction were the covers of the magazines. The photographs and drawings of women on the covers were definitely far from the identity of Ottoman women. These journals started attacking the institution of polygamy, which was widespread among the ruling class. They called for equality between men and women and clearly defended the rights of women. As a result of the various governmental policies on behalf of women and with the atmosphere of the relative freedom created by the revolution of 1908, women began to protest against the existing status of women through panels and meetings.[6] Ottoman feminist Fatma Nesibe in 1911 in Istanbul in a women meeting says:
"Pay attention to every corner of the world, we are the eve of a revolution. Be assured, this revolution is not going to be bloody and savage like a man's revolution. On the contrary, it will be pleasant and relatively quiet, but definitely productive. You must believe this, ladies! »
Unfortunately, only members of the small privileged, urban elite accomplished these achievements. The majority of Ottoman women, especially the ones living in the rural areas of the country patiently accepted male supremacy. [7]
With the increasing numbers of journals and women’s associations, Ottoman women were beginning to gain authority in political affairs as well. Kadınlar Dűnyası was also the first journal that published photographs of Muslim women with their Western looking dresses and was detached from tesettűr (the concealing of women’s hair, face, and body). From the 1950’s to the present day some feminist opinion has blamed the Qur’an and Islamic law for dishonouring and humiliating Muslim women. Ottoman activists followed women’s movements around the world but stressed that living in an Islamic society set different conditions for them. When they discussed their demands within the framework of Islam, they preferred to provide examples from the early Islamic period when Prophet Muhammad
ruled. [8] Muslims in their first century at first were relaxed about female dress. It was only in the second Islamic century that the veil became common, first used among the powerful and rich as a status symbol. Throughout Islamic history only a part of the urban classes were veiled and secluded. Rural and nomadic women, the majority of the population, were not. For a woman to assume a protective veil and stay primarily within the house was a sign that her family had the means to enable her to do so. The veil did not appear as a common rule to be followed until around the tenth century. [9] And even more interestingly, according to the Academicians of Islam: “In Islamic literature, nothing more illustrates the interaction of Quranic prescription and customary practices than the development of the veil and seclusion (harem) of women. Both are believed to be customs assimilated from the conquered Persian and Byzantine societies and viewed as appropriate expressions of Quranic norms and values. The connection between the veil and the seclusion appeared only when, during Muslim conquests of Persia and India, many noble women went into seclusion as a sign of prestige.” Basically, there is no binding prescription for the veil in Islamic law, but there are suggestions, "And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty, that they should not display their beauty and charms except what (normally) appears of them, that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and display their beauty only to their husbands, their fathers" (Ku-ran 24:31). This verse is interpreted as evidence of the exhortation to Muslim women to veil themselves. Accordingly, the veil became a basic practice for all Muslim women. Moreover, it represents a symbol of women's dignity; a cover that shelters them from the public's eyes. [10] For many Ottoman women though it was not the fact of wearing the veil that was the issue, but that the veil symbolized the relegation of women to a secluded world that did not allow them to participate in public affairs.
Turkish Women in Republic years
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who began to build a secular nation-state in 1923, denounced the veil, calling it demeaning and a hindrance to civilized nation. But he did not outlaw it. Turkish elites mocked women covered in black, calling them "beetles." [11] In 1915 women were allowed to remove their “ferece” while performing office work. On the other hand, they were sent home by the police, if the length of their skirts appeared to be shorter than officially allowed. The clothes and the mobility of women were under national regulations. This central control can still be seen in today’s attempts to regulate women’s clothes. As in the past, contemporary global and social problems are discussed in reference to women’s clothes. [12] With the declaration of the Turkish Republic on 29 October 1923, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk affirmed two objectives: the building of an independent Turkish state and the modernisation of this state. Accordingly, he abolished the Sultanate and the Caliphate, ended sharia law in 1926, and adopted the Swiss Civil Code. The new laws forbade polygamy, instituted civil marriage, allowed the initiation of divorce proceedings by either partner, and guaranteed equality of women before the law. On 5 December 1934 women gained the right to vote. These reforms had one aim only - to contribute to the process of Turkey’s modernisation and westernisation. Besides this, they opened up new opportunities for women in education and the work place. Consequently, the belief that reforms and the granting of equal rights could solve the "women’s problem" prevented the emergence of a "real" women’s movement led by women. [13] Therefore women (and of course men) failed to question patriarchal gender roles within Turkish society and the Republic remained essentially patriarchal.
The Third Coup d’Etat
The military intervention of 12 September 1980, which ended the political polarisation and terrorism of the seventies, resulted in the de-politicisation of the society. The price for the silence brought by the military was high-the loss of democracy. [14] Interestingly, it was under these very difficult circumstances that the Turkish women’s movement emerged as the first democratic opposition movement. Feminists of that era argue that the Turkish women’s movement arose only after the 1980s because Kemalism and leftist ideology were ideological barriers to the women’s movement. [15] The military intervention in 1980 forbade all political activities on the left and thereby enabled the emergence of a democratic and pluralistic women’s movement. While feminist groups were able to survive in the political framework of the 1980s, [16] they challenged the state tradition, as they supported women’s rights by ignoring the nationally protected patriarchal system. The new women’s movement represented the inevitable extension of Kemalist tradition, as it was part of the process of westernisation, since it arose through the possibilities created by Kemalist reforms. At the same time, the movement transcended the Kemalist tradition dialectically, as it questioned
remaining within this framework for its advancement and endorsed a radical change. To a large extent women remained faithful to Kemalist principles. [17]
Big steps, but is it enough?
The First Women’s Congress took place in 1989, with 800 participants discussing their problems and publishing their "Manifesto for the Rescue of Women", in which they explained that they criticised the state because it maintained the division of labour in society – the main reason for their problems. [18] The first large scale action of women after the military intervention was the signature action: On 8 March 1988 (World Women’s Day), a group of women gave the Turkish Parliament a women’s petition with 7000 signatures, demanding the implementation of the UN Convention for the Elimination of any Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the realisation of all necessary measures. Turkey ratified the UN Convention for the Elimination of any Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in December 1985 as one of the last states (as 83rd state). With the ratification of CEDAW and the demonstrations of efforts to improve women’s status, Turkey tried to present a positive picture, in order to justify the request for membership in the European Community from 14 April 1987. But Turkey had objections during the signing of CEDAW against articles 15 and 16, claiming these were in contradiction with the articles on marriage and families in Turkish civil law.
Time had changed and accordingly the problems. It wasn’t the veil or to be involved in public life anymore. They had more serious problems now. Problems created by poor conditions and lack of education, so the laws were not enough to solve them.
On 17 May 1987 Turkey had seen the largest protest of 3000 women in Istanbul. One of the most important steps against domestic violence and one of the high points of Turkish feminism. This was the first demonstration allowed nationally since the military intervention in 1980. The reason for this mass protest was the court case of a pregnant woman - and mother of two children- who petitioned for divorce because of the violence of her husband. The women protested against the decision of the judge -who justified violence against women with an old (senseless) proverb [19]- who denied the divorce petition. Several women laid charges against the judge for his decision and brought him to court. The continuous physical and psychological abuse of the wife could be cited as a cause of divorce, but it could not result in a charge being made against a violent husband, since such an act was not considered a criminal offence. Domestic violence or abuse was seen as a private affair; the state did not interfere, not even for protection.
The name of the game has changed: Domestic violence
From then on campaigns against violence towards women were the most important issues for women’s groups. All women in Turkey are being suppressed one way or another – regardless of social class, origin, education or occupation – by patriarchal relations, which were not only rooted in the traditional institutions, but also constantly being reproduced by so-called "modern" institutions. [20] The revision of the Civil Code and Constitution was an important step for the improvement of women’s rights but important topics were ignored. The demands of women’s groups to abolish the penal codes, which give judges the right to consider local customs and traditions on their decision for the punishment, were not taken into consideration. Although the murder of a family member in Turkey can lead to life imprisonment, judges frequently reduce the punishment of "honour killings" because of "provocation", to a minimum. If the person accused of honour killing is a minor, the punishment could be reduced up to two years. Despite the fact that, today, Turkish courts have begun to make more serious decisions and give punishments for honour killings, the following example still exists: In January 2004, a man was sentenced to 24 years in prison for murdering his wife with a knife. They had a religious marriage, which is not accepted by law, and had 3 children. The husband showed the court his wife’s pictures with another man. These pictures were accepted by the court as “major provocation evidence”. The court, also taking in consideration the husband’s “good behaviour”, reduced his sentence to 2 years and 6 months. [21] The laws in Turkey, based on personal beliefs and by manipulation of the evidence, can be broken.
Based on the research concluded by Agean University Institute of Judicial Medicine, 4 out of 50 judicial medicine experts, 6% of 85 psychologists, 10% of 100 lawyers, 17% of 80 judges and prosecutors and 33% of 100 policeman said that “some women deserve to be raped”. Same research also showed that 18% of 85 psychologists, 40% of 305 judges, prosecutors and lawyers, 66% of 100 policeman said that “the appearence and behavior of a woman can cause rape”. According to the report of Hacettepe University Institute of Population Study, 2003 population and health research, the physical violence against women is 34% and verbal violence is 54%. In 2006, only in Istanbul and within the police district, women victims of 18years old and above are 10.273. The breakdown is as follows: 101 murdered, 7 attemted murder, 737 wounded, 5.211 beaten, 631 kidnapped, 9 hostaged, 1.426 threated, 874 bad behavior towards family members, 802 insulted, 173 ill-mannered gestures, 163 raped, 107 sexually abused, 32 encouraged for prostitution. [22]
Woman sexuality in Turkey is not something that belongs to women or something they can decide about freely.[23] Virginity is definitely not a personal choice; it certainly involves society. A non-virgin has to face social alienation and marginalisation. As women are the carriers and givers of group identity, their sexual purity is essential for the survival of the standards and values of society. In contrast to European societies, sexual activities in Turkish society are not personal, but involve state authority. Until March 1999, it was legally possible to imprison women who committed adultery, or to submit girls who were under state control in public schools or orphanages to virginity tests. [24] According to the Feminist activists: “these tests symbolise the incorporation of the morality and chastity of women into the mechanisms of control developed by the "modern state". These mechanisms of control used to be forced upon women by family networks. Therefore virginity tests are modern forms of institutional violence against women, for the preservation of the image of the modern and moral woman, brought in by the Kemalist elite and continued in the Turkish Republic.” [25] Turkish women, despite their de jure equal rights in everyday, working and economic life and in politics, are unable to enjoy these rights, de facto. Therefore feminists encourage women to take their own decisions, implement their will and select their fate. Feminists insist on speaking for themselves, reject having others speak about them. They wrote their own novels, told their own stories and defined their own problems. This individualistic attitude is a radical and liberating change in the Turkish context, since policy is dictated from above.
Even after 5 years, lives are still being taken in the same way, with the same primitive and ignorant attitude. What does it mean to be a woman in Turkey? A country that is so keen on being a full member of the European Union. Where are the limits of woman rights? Who are setting the limits? Who is making the decisions? Do women in Turkey have a name? As the well known Turkish writer Duygu Asena once said: “We have come a long way but we still have a long way to go”.
A Brief history of Feminism in Turkey
The Pre-Republican period
In 1839, during Tanzimat period, Sultan Abdűlmecid declared a series of reforms which was influenced by Europe and addressed women’s issues, which were viewed as a part of "modernisation". Considering that the European women’s movement started with the French Revolution in 1789, this was a delay of about half a century. With the education of women, a "civilised" and "western" population would emerge.[2] Although the reforms were not especially directed at changing the status of women, Ottoman women were affected by the economic, social, political, judicial and ideological transformation and started to acquire a better social and legal position in society.[3] A small circle of educated women started to become involved in public debates about women's rights.[4] In the new atmosphere of freedom created by the Tanzimat Era (1839-1876), a number of exclusive women’s organizations were formed and new women’s journals[5] began to appear. The writings of Ottoman women showed that there was a visible feminist aspiration among urban Ottoman women. Several women’s journals were published in major Ottoman cities, in which women writers addressed women’s issues, along with more general problems of the country. Prior to the pre-Republican period (1919-1923), there were at least forty women’s journals, most of which were owned and published by men. A few of them had male owners but were actually published by women. Some were owned by women and had only women writers. The women writing in these journals focused on a number of issues. One prominent theme in their articles was their disappointment with the new era of “freedom”. Freedom, they argued, turned out to be only freedom for men, and reformists had forgotten their pledge to emancipate women once they obtained state power.
With the İkinci Meşrutiyet (Second Constitutional Regime) the role of women’s magazines in the changing society became more clearly defined. The magazines of this period were an important factor in the adoption of Western life-style and behaviour. The most dramatic illustrations of this new direction were the covers of the magazines. The photographs and drawings of women on the covers were definitely far from the identity of Ottoman women. These journals started attacking the institution of polygamy, which was widespread among the ruling class. They called for equality between men and women and clearly defended the rights of women. As a result of the various governmental policies on behalf of women and with the atmosphere of the relative freedom created by the revolution of 1908, women began to protest against the existing status of women through panels and meetings.[6] Ottoman feminist Fatma Nesibe in 1911 in Istanbul in a women meeting says:
"Pay attention to every corner of the world, we are the eve of a revolution. Be assured, this revolution is not going to be bloody and savage like a man's revolution. On the contrary, it will be pleasant and relatively quiet, but definitely productive. You must believe this, ladies! »
Unfortunately, only members of the small privileged, urban elite accomplished these achievements. The majority of Ottoman women, especially the ones living in the rural areas of the country patiently accepted male supremacy. [7]
With the increasing numbers of journals and women’s associations, Ottoman women were beginning to gain authority in political affairs as well. Kadınlar Dűnyası was also the first journal that published photographs of Muslim women with their Western looking dresses and was detached from tesettűr (the concealing of women’s hair, face, and body). From the 1950’s to the present day some feminist opinion has blamed the Qur’an and Islamic law for dishonouring and humiliating Muslim women. Ottoman activists followed women’s movements around the world but stressed that living in an Islamic society set different conditions for them. When they discussed their demands within the framework of Islam, they preferred to provide examples from the early Islamic period when Prophet Muhammad
ruled. [8] Muslims in their first century at first were relaxed about female dress. It was only in the second Islamic century that the veil became common, first used among the powerful and rich as a status symbol. Throughout Islamic history only a part of the urban classes were veiled and secluded. Rural and nomadic women, the majority of the population, were not. For a woman to assume a protective veil and stay primarily within the house was a sign that her family had the means to enable her to do so. The veil did not appear as a common rule to be followed until around the tenth century. [9] And even more interestingly, according to the Academicians of Islam: “In Islamic literature, nothing more illustrates the interaction of Quranic prescription and customary practices than the development of the veil and seclusion (harem) of women. Both are believed to be customs assimilated from the conquered Persian and Byzantine societies and viewed as appropriate expressions of Quranic norms and values. The connection between the veil and the seclusion appeared only when, during Muslim conquests of Persia and India, many noble women went into seclusion as a sign of prestige.” Basically, there is no binding prescription for the veil in Islamic law, but there are suggestions, "And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty, that they should not display their beauty and charms except what (normally) appears of them, that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and display their beauty only to their husbands, their fathers" (Ku-ran 24:31). This verse is interpreted as evidence of the exhortation to Muslim women to veil themselves. Accordingly, the veil became a basic practice for all Muslim women. Moreover, it represents a symbol of women's dignity; a cover that shelters them from the public's eyes. [10] For many Ottoman women though it was not the fact of wearing the veil that was the issue, but that the veil symbolized the relegation of women to a secluded world that did not allow them to participate in public affairs.
Turkish Women in Republic years
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who began to build a secular nation-state in 1923, denounced the veil, calling it demeaning and a hindrance to civilized nation. But he did not outlaw it. Turkish elites mocked women covered in black, calling them "beetles." [11] In 1915 women were allowed to remove their “ferece” while performing office work. On the other hand, they were sent home by the police, if the length of their skirts appeared to be shorter than officially allowed. The clothes and the mobility of women were under national regulations. This central control can still be seen in today’s attempts to regulate women’s clothes. As in the past, contemporary global and social problems are discussed in reference to women’s clothes. [12] With the declaration of the Turkish Republic on 29 October 1923, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk affirmed two objectives: the building of an independent Turkish state and the modernisation of this state. Accordingly, he abolished the Sultanate and the Caliphate, ended sharia law in 1926, and adopted the Swiss Civil Code. The new laws forbade polygamy, instituted civil marriage, allowed the initiation of divorce proceedings by either partner, and guaranteed equality of women before the law. On 5 December 1934 women gained the right to vote. These reforms had one aim only - to contribute to the process of Turkey’s modernisation and westernisation. Besides this, they opened up new opportunities for women in education and the work place. Consequently, the belief that reforms and the granting of equal rights could solve the "women’s problem" prevented the emergence of a "real" women’s movement led by women. [13] Therefore women (and of course men) failed to question patriarchal gender roles within Turkish society and the Republic remained essentially patriarchal.
The Third Coup d’Etat
The military intervention of 12 September 1980, which ended the political polarisation and terrorism of the seventies, resulted in the de-politicisation of the society. The price for the silence brought by the military was high-the loss of democracy. [14] Interestingly, it was under these very difficult circumstances that the Turkish women’s movement emerged as the first democratic opposition movement. Feminists of that era argue that the Turkish women’s movement arose only after the 1980s because Kemalism and leftist ideology were ideological barriers to the women’s movement. [15] The military intervention in 1980 forbade all political activities on the left and thereby enabled the emergence of a democratic and pluralistic women’s movement. While feminist groups were able to survive in the political framework of the 1980s, [16] they challenged the state tradition, as they supported women’s rights by ignoring the nationally protected patriarchal system. The new women’s movement represented the inevitable extension of Kemalist tradition, as it was part of the process of westernisation, since it arose through the possibilities created by Kemalist reforms. At the same time, the movement transcended the Kemalist tradition dialectically, as it questioned
remaining within this framework for its advancement and endorsed a radical change. To a large extent women remained faithful to Kemalist principles. [17]
Big steps, but is it enough?
The First Women’s Congress took place in 1989, with 800 participants discussing their problems and publishing their "Manifesto for the Rescue of Women", in which they explained that they criticised the state because it maintained the division of labour in society – the main reason for their problems. [18] The first large scale action of women after the military intervention was the signature action: On 8 March 1988 (World Women’s Day), a group of women gave the Turkish Parliament a women’s petition with 7000 signatures, demanding the implementation of the UN Convention for the Elimination of any Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the realisation of all necessary measures. Turkey ratified the UN Convention for the Elimination of any Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in December 1985 as one of the last states (as 83rd state). With the ratification of CEDAW and the demonstrations of efforts to improve women’s status, Turkey tried to present a positive picture, in order to justify the request for membership in the European Community from 14 April 1987. But Turkey had objections during the signing of CEDAW against articles 15 and 16, claiming these were in contradiction with the articles on marriage and families in Turkish civil law.
Time had changed and accordingly the problems. It wasn’t the veil or to be involved in public life anymore. They had more serious problems now. Problems created by poor conditions and lack of education, so the laws were not enough to solve them.
On 17 May 1987 Turkey had seen the largest protest of 3000 women in Istanbul. One of the most important steps against domestic violence and one of the high points of Turkish feminism. This was the first demonstration allowed nationally since the military intervention in 1980. The reason for this mass protest was the court case of a pregnant woman - and mother of two children- who petitioned for divorce because of the violence of her husband. The women protested against the decision of the judge -who justified violence against women with an old (senseless) proverb [19]- who denied the divorce petition. Several women laid charges against the judge for his decision and brought him to court. The continuous physical and psychological abuse of the wife could be cited as a cause of divorce, but it could not result in a charge being made against a violent husband, since such an act was not considered a criminal offence. Domestic violence or abuse was seen as a private affair; the state did not interfere, not even for protection.
The name of the game has changed: Domestic violence
From then on campaigns against violence towards women were the most important issues for women’s groups. All women in Turkey are being suppressed one way or another – regardless of social class, origin, education or occupation – by patriarchal relations, which were not only rooted in the traditional institutions, but also constantly being reproduced by so-called "modern" institutions. [20] The revision of the Civil Code and Constitution was an important step for the improvement of women’s rights but important topics were ignored. The demands of women’s groups to abolish the penal codes, which give judges the right to consider local customs and traditions on their decision for the punishment, were not taken into consideration. Although the murder of a family member in Turkey can lead to life imprisonment, judges frequently reduce the punishment of "honour killings" because of "provocation", to a minimum. If the person accused of honour killing is a minor, the punishment could be reduced up to two years. Despite the fact that, today, Turkish courts have begun to make more serious decisions and give punishments for honour killings, the following example still exists: In January 2004, a man was sentenced to 24 years in prison for murdering his wife with a knife. They had a religious marriage, which is not accepted by law, and had 3 children. The husband showed the court his wife’s pictures with another man. These pictures were accepted by the court as “major provocation evidence”. The court, also taking in consideration the husband’s “good behaviour”, reduced his sentence to 2 years and 6 months. [21] The laws in Turkey, based on personal beliefs and by manipulation of the evidence, can be broken.
Based on the research concluded by Agean University Institute of Judicial Medicine, 4 out of 50 judicial medicine experts, 6% of 85 psychologists, 10% of 100 lawyers, 17% of 80 judges and prosecutors and 33% of 100 policeman said that “some women deserve to be raped”. Same research also showed that 18% of 85 psychologists, 40% of 305 judges, prosecutors and lawyers, 66% of 100 policeman said that “the appearence and behavior of a woman can cause rape”. According to the report of Hacettepe University Institute of Population Study, 2003 population and health research, the physical violence against women is 34% and verbal violence is 54%. In 2006, only in Istanbul and within the police district, women victims of 18years old and above are 10.273. The breakdown is as follows: 101 murdered, 7 attemted murder, 737 wounded, 5.211 beaten, 631 kidnapped, 9 hostaged, 1.426 threated, 874 bad behavior towards family members, 802 insulted, 173 ill-mannered gestures, 163 raped, 107 sexually abused, 32 encouraged for prostitution. [22]
Woman sexuality in Turkey is not something that belongs to women or something they can decide about freely.[23] Virginity is definitely not a personal choice; it certainly involves society. A non-virgin has to face social alienation and marginalisation. As women are the carriers and givers of group identity, their sexual purity is essential for the survival of the standards and values of society. In contrast to European societies, sexual activities in Turkish society are not personal, but involve state authority. Until March 1999, it was legally possible to imprison women who committed adultery, or to submit girls who were under state control in public schools or orphanages to virginity tests. [24] According to the Feminist activists: “these tests symbolise the incorporation of the morality and chastity of women into the mechanisms of control developed by the "modern state". These mechanisms of control used to be forced upon women by family networks. Therefore virginity tests are modern forms of institutional violence against women, for the preservation of the image of the modern and moral woman, brought in by the Kemalist elite and continued in the Turkish Republic.” [25] Turkish women, despite their de jure equal rights in everyday, working and economic life and in politics, are unable to enjoy these rights, de facto. Therefore feminists encourage women to take their own decisions, implement their will and select their fate. Feminists insist on speaking for themselves, reject having others speak about them. They wrote their own novels, told their own stories and defined their own problems. This individualistic attitude is a radical and liberating change in the Turkish context, since policy is dictated from above.
Feminists are taking in charge of their own faith: Women for women
Duygu Asena's first novel Kadının Adı Yok ("Woman Has No Name"), published in 1987, and was described by Şirin Tekeli as a "feminist manifesto". It is the story of a woman who fights to share the freedoms enjoyed by men in Turkish society as well as a bleak portrayal of marriage without love. It became a bestseller, but it was eventually banned at its 40th print run in 1998, found to be obscene and dangerous to the institution of marriage. After a two-year trial, the publication of her book was again permitted. Asena died in July 2006. Her coffin was carried only by women.
“In Turkey, there is a strange situation. At first we have to make efforts to have a law passed. Then we have to devote just as much efforts to have it implemented” says Nebahat Akkoç who was a primary school teacher in Diyarbakır. In 1993, at the height of the conflict between the terrorist PKK and the Turkish military, Akkoç's husband, a teacher and union activist, was gunned down by unidentified assailants. After this incident, Akkoç was arrested and tortured by police. She took her case to the European Court of Human Rights, which eventually ordered the Turkish state to pay her compensation. As a result of her personal experience and having listened to many similar stories from women in South Eastern Turkey, Akkoç set up Ka-Mer as an independent women's centre to support victims of violence. "I began thinking about torture and how one person could inflict that on another. Only someone who had been exposed to violence as a child could do that. I realized that domestic violence was behind all violence”. [26] Ka-Mer began with one centre in Diyarbakır. Today there are similar centres in 23 provinces in eastern and south-eastern regions of Turkey, offering hotlines for abused women, legal and professional training courses and day-care facilities. [27]
The women's movement of the 1980s which creates direct participation of women for women also gave rise to these new woman institutions. Şirin Tekeli was one of the founders of the Women's Library and Information Centre in April 1990 in Istanbul. She was also a founder of the Purple Roof Women's Shelter Foundation. Such organisations became part of a new democratic civil society: In 1997 Tekeli participated in the founding of Ka-Der (Association for Supporting and Training Women Candidates). Ka-Der's main endeavour continues to be to raise the presence of women in Turkish politics. In Turkey woman representatives in local administrations are 0.56%, in municipalities are 0.56% and in City Councils are 1.75%. Although the sexuality quota for the National Parliaments of 111 countries have been arranged and applied, woman deputies in The National Assembly of Turkey is still 4.4% which places Turkey in 22nd within 189 countries in the world. The woman administrators in the government and private sector are 7%. There has been only 1 woman governor in the Turkish Republic and there is none now. [28] Şirin Tekeli, one of the leading feminist activists of recent decades, resigned as associate professor in the Faculty of Economics at Istanbul University in protest against the Board of Higher Education established after the 1980 military coup to control academic life. Tekeli analyses "state feminism”: “Once equal suffrage was achieved the state claimed that 'gender equality being a reality in Turkey', women did not need an organization of their own. Our mother's generation – both because they got some important rights and were given new opportunities, and because they were forced to do so by repression – identified with Kemalism rather than with feminism.” Only the Kemalist feminists kept on believing that the existing problems of women could be solved within the legal framework handed down by the Kemalist elite.[29]
A leading defender of Kemalist feminism, Necla Arat, "Westerners say we should give up on Kemalism and become moderate Muslims. This is a shame. Kemalists defend equality and social justice… One never knows when moderate Islam will become radical Islam if it is intertwined with state affairs." According to Arat the main divisions among women's group are ideological in nature, based around the Islamist/secular divide and "there is no dialogue about the headscarf among women's groups. Each one is stubborn and strict on this matter." Arat is a social science professor and director of the Faculty for Systematic Philosophy, Istanbul University. She is also the founder of the Centre for Women's Research and Education at Istanbul University. She was active in the campaign for reform of the Civil Code, initiating an effort in 1993 which collected more than 100,000 signatures from across Turkey. Necla Arat claimed that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) had ambitions to install a "religious" regime in Turkey. She supported the Turkish military's warning published on 27 April 2007 arguing that "soldiers can express their opinions as freely as other members of society, just as business people or intellectuals do." Soon afterwards she was invited by the Republican People's Party (CHP) to be a parliamentary candidate in the July 2007 elections.
In 2006, based on some statistics in Turkey, 9 percent of the people wanted to have a religious state based on the Sharia (Islamic law). This is down from 21 percent in 1999. Headscarf wearing has decreased since 1999. In 1999 27.3% were not wearing a headscarf, in 2006, 36.5% are uncovered. [30] The latest developments in Turkey in regards to the headscarf and permitting it at Universities, instead of pulling the country to the passed years like Kemalists believes, might open up minds with the light of education and therefore might open up the heads as well.
Part of a new generation of Islamic feminists Hidayet Tüksal sees progress in terms of collaboration among different women's groups. “Many women opposing the headscarf are academics who come from university women's research departments. But even they reached the point saying 'Come and let us talk about the headscarf in a closed meeting.' They never said that before. Socialist feminists and women with headscarves sit next to each other”. Tüksal holds a PhD in Islamic theology from Ankara University. She is the author of a book on the hadith (account of the words and deeds of the Prophet). She was also one of the founders of the Capital Women's Platform (Başkent Kadın Platformu) in 1994 in Ankara. The platform draws attention to the injustice and discrimination that religious women suffer in secular circles. It challenges the religious basis of traditions that discriminate against women.[31]
Ayşe Böhürler who is the Member of AKP (Justice and Development Party) Administrative Council and journalist, comments on religious beliefs and women struggle:
“Religion is being used as a tool to fear women. That’s why religious woman is being conspicuous and gets reaction from people. However it is very important that it is the woman who has the power to change and despite all the antidemocratic and religious pressure she struggles for her beliefs and her rights. Women are pressured but not suppressed. They are aware of their power. I believe that these educated and intellectual women will be the pioneers of change.”[32]
The foundation of these problems, as Ottoman women pointed out then, is education indeed. Ignorance and lack of knowledge creates lack of capacity in judgment and unproductiveness in society. Besides the fact that general percentage of literacy in Turkey is very low in relation to the other European countries, the girls don’t have the same opportunity as boys to study. Therefore, 1 in every 5 women is uneducated. Especially in east and south-east Anatolia this percentage is 1 in every 2 women. Decreased production, maladjusted family and work environment and the discrimination towards women in rural areas are the causes for woman not to participate in productive effort. Woman participation in production in Turkey is 25%. However, 65.5% of unregistered workers are women. The yearly income of a working woman is only 34.4% of a male's. 88% of the unemployed youth is female. 80.2% of women in Turkey has no property.[33]
The above description shows that in Turkey women do have a name at last but there is still a very long way to go. As long as the struggle between Islam and Modernisation is still taking place through the bodies of women, no power of any organisation, law or reform will be able to embrace the pain of mothers who lose a child.
[1] http://www.kamer.org.tr/, KAMER is a Civil Right Foundation that aims to stop violence against women in Turkey
[2] Zuhal Yeşilyurt Gündüz, “The Women’s Movement in Turkey”. Assist. Prof. Dr. Zuhal Yeşilyurt Gündüz teaches at Başkent University, Faculty for Economic and Administrative Sciences, Department of Political Science and International Relations
[3] Vuslat Devrim Altınöz, A thesis on “The Ottoman Women’s Movement: Women’s Press, journals, magazines and newspapers from 1875 to 1923”, Miami University.
[4] ESI – European Stability Initiative (Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul), http://www.esiweb.org/
[5] Recent years, there has been an important bibliographic research made on Ottoman women’s journals. One of the first studies about the women’s journals was written by Emel Aşa in 1989 as a Masters Thesis. Emel Aşa, 1928’e Kadar Tűrk Kadın Mecmuaları, (İstanbul: İstanbul Űniversitesi Tűrk Dili ve Edebiyatı Bőlűmű, Yűksek Lisans Tezi, 1989). Another important study which includes an index of all the women’s journals that has published since the 1850s to present is İstanbul Kűtűphanelerindeki Eski Harfli Tűrkçe Kadın Dergileri Bibliografyası (İstanbul: Kadın Eserleri Kűtűphanesi ve Bilgi Merkezi Vakfı Yayınları: 5, Metis Yayınları, 1993). This is a work produced by Zehra Toska, Serpil Çakır, Tűlay Gençtűrk, Sevim Yılmaz, Selmin Kurç, Gőkçen Art, and Aynur Demirdirek. Another recent study that used women’s magazines is Aynur Demirdirek’s Osmanlı Kadınlarının Hayat Hakkı Arayışının Bir Hikayesi (Ankara: İmge Yayınevi, 1993). Finally, the latest work produced using the women’s journals are Serpil Çakır’s Osmanlı Kadın Hareketi (İstanbul: Metis Yayınları, 1994).
[6] Vuslat Devrim Altınöz, A thesis on “The Ottoman Women’s Movement: Women’s Press, journals, magazines and newspapers from 1875 to 1923”, Miami University.
[7] ESI – European Stability Initiative (Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul), http://www.esiweb.org/
[8] Vuslat Devrim Altınöz, A thesis on “The Ottoman Women’s Movement: Women’s Press, journals, magazines and newspapers from 1875 to 1923”, Miami University.
[9] Women in World History Curriculum, Essay: “Historical Perspectives on Islamic dress”.
[10] Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph.D. “The Development of Hijab”.
[11] Women in World History Curriculum, Essay: “Historical Perspectives on Islamic dress”.
[12] Meltem Müftüler-Baç, "Turkish Women’s Predicament", Women’s Studies International Forum, Vol. 3 (1999), p.310.
[13] Fatmagül Berktay, "Türkiye’de ‘Kadınlık Durumu’", p.760.
[14] Şirin Tekeli, "Women in Turkey in the 1980s", in Tekeli, Şirin (ed.): Women in Modern Turkish Society, Zed Books
[15] ibid. p.13.
[16] Yeşim Arat, "Toward a Democratic Society: The Women’s Movement in Turkey in the 1980s", Women’s Studies International Forum, 17 (1994) 2-3, p.244.
[17] Arat, "1980‘ler Türkiyesi‘nde Kadın Hareketi: Liberal Kemalizmin Radikal Uzantısı", p.7.
[18] Arat, "Toward a Democratic Society. The Women’s Movement in Turkey in the 1980s".
[19] "Kadının sırtını sopasız, karnını sıpasız bırakmamak gerek." – "The back of a woman should not remain without a stick, her stomach without a child.» (!)
[20] Tekeli, "Women in Turkey in the 1980s".
[21] http://www.kamer.org.tr/, KAMER is a Civil Right Foundation that aims to stop violence against women in Turkey
[22] Uçan Süpürge Kadın Organizasyonu, Flying Broom is a women’s organization working for the improvement of democracy and civil society. http://www.ucansupurge.org/
[23] Meltem Müftüler-Baç, "Turkish Women’s Predicament", p.309
[24] ibid p.309
[25] Ayşe Parla, "The ‘Honour’ Of the State: Virginity Examinations in Turkey", Feminist Studies, 27 (2001) 1, p.79.
[26] ESI – European Stability Initiative (Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul), http://www.esiweb.org/
[27] KAMER is a Civil Right Foundation that aims to stop violence against women in Turkey, http://www.kamer.org.tr/
[28] KA-DER, Association for Supporting and Training Women Candidates, http://www.ka-der.org.tr/
[29] ESI – European Stability Initiative (Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul), http://www.esiweb.org/
[30] ESI – European Stability Initiative (Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul), http://www.esiweb.org/
[31] ESI – European Stability Initiative (Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul), http://www.esiweb.org/
[32] Kültür A.Ş. İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi, Doğu’nun Kadın Mirası, 1. baskı, İstanbul Ekim 2005
[33] Uçan Süpürge Kadın Organizasyonu, Flying Broom is a women’s organization working for the improvement of democracy and civil society. http://www.ucansupurge.org/
Duygu Asena's first novel Kadının Adı Yok ("Woman Has No Name"), published in 1987, and was described by Şirin Tekeli as a "feminist manifesto". It is the story of a woman who fights to share the freedoms enjoyed by men in Turkish society as well as a bleak portrayal of marriage without love. It became a bestseller, but it was eventually banned at its 40th print run in 1998, found to be obscene and dangerous to the institution of marriage. After a two-year trial, the publication of her book was again permitted. Asena died in July 2006. Her coffin was carried only by women.
“In Turkey, there is a strange situation. At first we have to make efforts to have a law passed. Then we have to devote just as much efforts to have it implemented” says Nebahat Akkoç who was a primary school teacher in Diyarbakır. In 1993, at the height of the conflict between the terrorist PKK and the Turkish military, Akkoç's husband, a teacher and union activist, was gunned down by unidentified assailants. After this incident, Akkoç was arrested and tortured by police. She took her case to the European Court of Human Rights, which eventually ordered the Turkish state to pay her compensation. As a result of her personal experience and having listened to many similar stories from women in South Eastern Turkey, Akkoç set up Ka-Mer as an independent women's centre to support victims of violence. "I began thinking about torture and how one person could inflict that on another. Only someone who had been exposed to violence as a child could do that. I realized that domestic violence was behind all violence”. [26] Ka-Mer began with one centre in Diyarbakır. Today there are similar centres in 23 provinces in eastern and south-eastern regions of Turkey, offering hotlines for abused women, legal and professional training courses and day-care facilities. [27]
The women's movement of the 1980s which creates direct participation of women for women also gave rise to these new woman institutions. Şirin Tekeli was one of the founders of the Women's Library and Information Centre in April 1990 in Istanbul. She was also a founder of the Purple Roof Women's Shelter Foundation. Such organisations became part of a new democratic civil society: In 1997 Tekeli participated in the founding of Ka-Der (Association for Supporting and Training Women Candidates). Ka-Der's main endeavour continues to be to raise the presence of women in Turkish politics. In Turkey woman representatives in local administrations are 0.56%, in municipalities are 0.56% and in City Councils are 1.75%. Although the sexuality quota for the National Parliaments of 111 countries have been arranged and applied, woman deputies in The National Assembly of Turkey is still 4.4% which places Turkey in 22nd within 189 countries in the world. The woman administrators in the government and private sector are 7%. There has been only 1 woman governor in the Turkish Republic and there is none now. [28] Şirin Tekeli, one of the leading feminist activists of recent decades, resigned as associate professor in the Faculty of Economics at Istanbul University in protest against the Board of Higher Education established after the 1980 military coup to control academic life. Tekeli analyses "state feminism”: “Once equal suffrage was achieved the state claimed that 'gender equality being a reality in Turkey', women did not need an organization of their own. Our mother's generation – both because they got some important rights and were given new opportunities, and because they were forced to do so by repression – identified with Kemalism rather than with feminism.” Only the Kemalist feminists kept on believing that the existing problems of women could be solved within the legal framework handed down by the Kemalist elite.[29]
A leading defender of Kemalist feminism, Necla Arat, "Westerners say we should give up on Kemalism and become moderate Muslims. This is a shame. Kemalists defend equality and social justice… One never knows when moderate Islam will become radical Islam if it is intertwined with state affairs." According to Arat the main divisions among women's group are ideological in nature, based around the Islamist/secular divide and "there is no dialogue about the headscarf among women's groups. Each one is stubborn and strict on this matter." Arat is a social science professor and director of the Faculty for Systematic Philosophy, Istanbul University. She is also the founder of the Centre for Women's Research and Education at Istanbul University. She was active in the campaign for reform of the Civil Code, initiating an effort in 1993 which collected more than 100,000 signatures from across Turkey. Necla Arat claimed that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) had ambitions to install a "religious" regime in Turkey. She supported the Turkish military's warning published on 27 April 2007 arguing that "soldiers can express their opinions as freely as other members of society, just as business people or intellectuals do." Soon afterwards she was invited by the Republican People's Party (CHP) to be a parliamentary candidate in the July 2007 elections.
In 2006, based on some statistics in Turkey, 9 percent of the people wanted to have a religious state based on the Sharia (Islamic law). This is down from 21 percent in 1999. Headscarf wearing has decreased since 1999. In 1999 27.3% were not wearing a headscarf, in 2006, 36.5% are uncovered. [30] The latest developments in Turkey in regards to the headscarf and permitting it at Universities, instead of pulling the country to the passed years like Kemalists believes, might open up minds with the light of education and therefore might open up the heads as well.
Part of a new generation of Islamic feminists Hidayet Tüksal sees progress in terms of collaboration among different women's groups. “Many women opposing the headscarf are academics who come from university women's research departments. But even they reached the point saying 'Come and let us talk about the headscarf in a closed meeting.' They never said that before. Socialist feminists and women with headscarves sit next to each other”. Tüksal holds a PhD in Islamic theology from Ankara University. She is the author of a book on the hadith (account of the words and deeds of the Prophet). She was also one of the founders of the Capital Women's Platform (Başkent Kadın Platformu) in 1994 in Ankara. The platform draws attention to the injustice and discrimination that religious women suffer in secular circles. It challenges the religious basis of traditions that discriminate against women.[31]
Ayşe Böhürler who is the Member of AKP (Justice and Development Party) Administrative Council and journalist, comments on religious beliefs and women struggle:
“Religion is being used as a tool to fear women. That’s why religious woman is being conspicuous and gets reaction from people. However it is very important that it is the woman who has the power to change and despite all the antidemocratic and religious pressure she struggles for her beliefs and her rights. Women are pressured but not suppressed. They are aware of their power. I believe that these educated and intellectual women will be the pioneers of change.”[32]
The foundation of these problems, as Ottoman women pointed out then, is education indeed. Ignorance and lack of knowledge creates lack of capacity in judgment and unproductiveness in society. Besides the fact that general percentage of literacy in Turkey is very low in relation to the other European countries, the girls don’t have the same opportunity as boys to study. Therefore, 1 in every 5 women is uneducated. Especially in east and south-east Anatolia this percentage is 1 in every 2 women. Decreased production, maladjusted family and work environment and the discrimination towards women in rural areas are the causes for woman not to participate in productive effort. Woman participation in production in Turkey is 25%. However, 65.5% of unregistered workers are women. The yearly income of a working woman is only 34.4% of a male's. 88% of the unemployed youth is female. 80.2% of women in Turkey has no property.[33]
The above description shows that in Turkey women do have a name at last but there is still a very long way to go. As long as the struggle between Islam and Modernisation is still taking place through the bodies of women, no power of any organisation, law or reform will be able to embrace the pain of mothers who lose a child.
[1] http://www.kamer.org.tr/, KAMER is a Civil Right Foundation that aims to stop violence against women in Turkey
[2] Zuhal Yeşilyurt Gündüz, “The Women’s Movement in Turkey”. Assist. Prof. Dr. Zuhal Yeşilyurt Gündüz teaches at Başkent University, Faculty for Economic and Administrative Sciences, Department of Political Science and International Relations
[3] Vuslat Devrim Altınöz, A thesis on “The Ottoman Women’s Movement: Women’s Press, journals, magazines and newspapers from 1875 to 1923”, Miami University.
[4] ESI – European Stability Initiative (Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul), http://www.esiweb.org/
[5] Recent years, there has been an important bibliographic research made on Ottoman women’s journals. One of the first studies about the women’s journals was written by Emel Aşa in 1989 as a Masters Thesis. Emel Aşa, 1928’e Kadar Tűrk Kadın Mecmuaları, (İstanbul: İstanbul Űniversitesi Tűrk Dili ve Edebiyatı Bőlűmű, Yűksek Lisans Tezi, 1989). Another important study which includes an index of all the women’s journals that has published since the 1850s to present is İstanbul Kűtűphanelerindeki Eski Harfli Tűrkçe Kadın Dergileri Bibliografyası (İstanbul: Kadın Eserleri Kűtűphanesi ve Bilgi Merkezi Vakfı Yayınları: 5, Metis Yayınları, 1993). This is a work produced by Zehra Toska, Serpil Çakır, Tűlay Gençtűrk, Sevim Yılmaz, Selmin Kurç, Gőkçen Art, and Aynur Demirdirek. Another recent study that used women’s magazines is Aynur Demirdirek’s Osmanlı Kadınlarının Hayat Hakkı Arayışının Bir Hikayesi (Ankara: İmge Yayınevi, 1993). Finally, the latest work produced using the women’s journals are Serpil Çakır’s Osmanlı Kadın Hareketi (İstanbul: Metis Yayınları, 1994).
[6] Vuslat Devrim Altınöz, A thesis on “The Ottoman Women’s Movement: Women’s Press, journals, magazines and newspapers from 1875 to 1923”, Miami University.
[7] ESI – European Stability Initiative (Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul), http://www.esiweb.org/
[8] Vuslat Devrim Altınöz, A thesis on “The Ottoman Women’s Movement: Women’s Press, journals, magazines and newspapers from 1875 to 1923”, Miami University.
[9] Women in World History Curriculum, Essay: “Historical Perspectives on Islamic dress”.
[10] Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph.D. “The Development of Hijab”.
[11] Women in World History Curriculum, Essay: “Historical Perspectives on Islamic dress”.
[12] Meltem Müftüler-Baç, "Turkish Women’s Predicament", Women’s Studies International Forum, Vol. 3 (1999), p.310.
[13] Fatmagül Berktay, "Türkiye’de ‘Kadınlık Durumu’", p.760.
[14] Şirin Tekeli, "Women in Turkey in the 1980s", in Tekeli, Şirin (ed.): Women in Modern Turkish Society, Zed Books
[15] ibid. p.13.
[16] Yeşim Arat, "Toward a Democratic Society: The Women’s Movement in Turkey in the 1980s", Women’s Studies International Forum, 17 (1994) 2-3, p.244.
[17] Arat, "1980‘ler Türkiyesi‘nde Kadın Hareketi: Liberal Kemalizmin Radikal Uzantısı", p.7.
[18] Arat, "Toward a Democratic Society. The Women’s Movement in Turkey in the 1980s".
[19] "Kadının sırtını sopasız, karnını sıpasız bırakmamak gerek." – "The back of a woman should not remain without a stick, her stomach without a child.» (!)
[20] Tekeli, "Women in Turkey in the 1980s".
[21] http://www.kamer.org.tr/, KAMER is a Civil Right Foundation that aims to stop violence against women in Turkey
[22] Uçan Süpürge Kadın Organizasyonu, Flying Broom is a women’s organization working for the improvement of democracy and civil society. http://www.ucansupurge.org/
[23] Meltem Müftüler-Baç, "Turkish Women’s Predicament", p.309
[24] ibid p.309
[25] Ayşe Parla, "The ‘Honour’ Of the State: Virginity Examinations in Turkey", Feminist Studies, 27 (2001) 1, p.79.
[26] ESI – European Stability Initiative (Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul), http://www.esiweb.org/
[27] KAMER is a Civil Right Foundation that aims to stop violence against women in Turkey, http://www.kamer.org.tr/
[28] KA-DER, Association for Supporting and Training Women Candidates, http://www.ka-der.org.tr/
[29] ESI – European Stability Initiative (Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul), http://www.esiweb.org/
[30] ESI – European Stability Initiative (Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul), http://www.esiweb.org/
[31] ESI – European Stability Initiative (Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul), http://www.esiweb.org/
[32] Kültür A.Ş. İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi, Doğu’nun Kadın Mirası, 1. baskı, İstanbul Ekim 2005
[33] Uçan Süpürge Kadın Organizasyonu, Flying Broom is a women’s organization working for the improvement of democracy and civil society. http://www.ucansupurge.org/
Louisa…problem!
A few days ago I had the chance to meet a Serbian photo reporter, Milos, who has been living in Athens for about 10 years, is married with a child, has a working permit and works for a foreign news agency in Athens.
He told us a story which I believe I should share and he wouldn’t mind me doing so.
Sometime ago he was assigned to go to Istanbul to photograph the final game of the Champions League. He stayed somewhere near Beyoglu (Peran) with a friend of his; he also had another friend, Mustafa who had a store near by. So he was very pleased to be working in Istanbul for a few days and spend sometime with his Turkish friends. One day, as he was walking down the street, a Turkish guy accidentally (!) tripped him from behind and an other guy supposedly helped him out not to fall, from the front. Milos thanked the guy for his philanthropic assistance and went home, only to realize later on that they had stolen his purse with his passport in it. In a few days his job in Istanbul would be over so he had to come back to Athens where his home is with his wife and child. First, he decided to go to the Serbian Embassy since he is a Serbian and his passport is from Serbia. A soldier in front of the Embassy stopped him and didn’t let him in because he spoke only Turkish and didn’t understand or even try to understand what Milos was doing there or why he needed to go to the Embassy. We have to mention here that Milos is also a quite suspicious looking guy. He is sweet as he is, his look in our days of extreme fear doesn’t help him much.
As he always does in the strike of crises he called his wife who is also a journalist in Athens, half Polish, half Greek and says “Louisa…problem”, hoping that she will find a way to help. And she did, she called the Greek Embassy in Istanbul, Ministry of Press in Athens…and finally managed to send somebody from the Greek Embassy to help him out. He found out from the Serbian Embassy that since he lived in Greece in order to travel from Turkey to Greece his papers had to be arranged from the Greek Embassy since his passport was stolen and hasn’t got a visa to come back to Greece. Going back to Serbia would have been easier of course. So, the Greek Embassy issued him a paper with a visa to go back to Greece. The next day he went to the airport to return to Greece. They stopped him at the first security check. The Turkish policeman looked at the paper first and then looked at him suspiciously, looked at the paper again and at him again and said “this visa was issued on Saturday, how come? Saturday the consulate is closed.” In the mean time all these conversations were taking place in Turkish, Serbian, very little English and mostly body language. While Milos tried to explain to him what he had been through, a well dressed guy, possibly some kind of government or airport official, heard this conversion and looked at the visa and said to the policeman “he has the visa, let him go, he is Greece’s problem now”.
However there were no more planes that day so Milos had to come back the next day at 10am to fly. He went back home to his friends and got ready to leave the next day. But he decided to go the airport early enough so that the shift wouldn’t change and he didn’t have to explain himself all over again to a new official. He got to the airport at 5am the next morning. His guy was there checking him out to understand why he came so early. He invited him to his office, offered him tea and they talked about football in several different languages. Phone rang and the guy picked it up and made to Milos some kind of hand gesture which made Milos think that maybe he needed privacy to talk on the phone although he didn’t understand a word he was saying. As very polite as Milos is, he left the room and went to another room which was right down from the hole. He went in and sat down, the chairs were of the kind that are attached to each other and don’t move around. Within a second another policeman showed up, handcuffed him and tried to get him out of the airport, probably to take him to jail. Milos shocked, didn’t understand what was going on, (“Louisa…problem”). Fortunately the other policeman hung up the phone and ran after Milos to save him. Apparently Milos went to a room where they keep the criminals or accused with crime to be taken to the police station.
Finally Milos arrived to Greece safe and sound. They tell him it is not a good idea for him to travel. I hope he will never be assigned to go to America. I can imagine him calling, “Louisa…problem” from Guantanamo Bay.
He told us a story which I believe I should share and he wouldn’t mind me doing so.
Sometime ago he was assigned to go to Istanbul to photograph the final game of the Champions League. He stayed somewhere near Beyoglu (Peran) with a friend of his; he also had another friend, Mustafa who had a store near by. So he was very pleased to be working in Istanbul for a few days and spend sometime with his Turkish friends. One day, as he was walking down the street, a Turkish guy accidentally (!) tripped him from behind and an other guy supposedly helped him out not to fall, from the front. Milos thanked the guy for his philanthropic assistance and went home, only to realize later on that they had stolen his purse with his passport in it. In a few days his job in Istanbul would be over so he had to come back to Athens where his home is with his wife and child. First, he decided to go to the Serbian Embassy since he is a Serbian and his passport is from Serbia. A soldier in front of the Embassy stopped him and didn’t let him in because he spoke only Turkish and didn’t understand or even try to understand what Milos was doing there or why he needed to go to the Embassy. We have to mention here that Milos is also a quite suspicious looking guy. He is sweet as he is, his look in our days of extreme fear doesn’t help him much.
As he always does in the strike of crises he called his wife who is also a journalist in Athens, half Polish, half Greek and says “Louisa…problem”, hoping that she will find a way to help. And she did, she called the Greek Embassy in Istanbul, Ministry of Press in Athens…and finally managed to send somebody from the Greek Embassy to help him out. He found out from the Serbian Embassy that since he lived in Greece in order to travel from Turkey to Greece his papers had to be arranged from the Greek Embassy since his passport was stolen and hasn’t got a visa to come back to Greece. Going back to Serbia would have been easier of course. So, the Greek Embassy issued him a paper with a visa to go back to Greece. The next day he went to the airport to return to Greece. They stopped him at the first security check. The Turkish policeman looked at the paper first and then looked at him suspiciously, looked at the paper again and at him again and said “this visa was issued on Saturday, how come? Saturday the consulate is closed.” In the mean time all these conversations were taking place in Turkish, Serbian, very little English and mostly body language. While Milos tried to explain to him what he had been through, a well dressed guy, possibly some kind of government or airport official, heard this conversion and looked at the visa and said to the policeman “he has the visa, let him go, he is Greece’s problem now”.
However there were no more planes that day so Milos had to come back the next day at 10am to fly. He went back home to his friends and got ready to leave the next day. But he decided to go the airport early enough so that the shift wouldn’t change and he didn’t have to explain himself all over again to a new official. He got to the airport at 5am the next morning. His guy was there checking him out to understand why he came so early. He invited him to his office, offered him tea and they talked about football in several different languages. Phone rang and the guy picked it up and made to Milos some kind of hand gesture which made Milos think that maybe he needed privacy to talk on the phone although he didn’t understand a word he was saying. As very polite as Milos is, he left the room and went to another room which was right down from the hole. He went in and sat down, the chairs were of the kind that are attached to each other and don’t move around. Within a second another policeman showed up, handcuffed him and tried to get him out of the airport, probably to take him to jail. Milos shocked, didn’t understand what was going on, (“Louisa…problem”). Fortunately the other policeman hung up the phone and ran after Milos to save him. Apparently Milos went to a room where they keep the criminals or accused with crime to be taken to the police station.
Finally Milos arrived to Greece safe and sound. They tell him it is not a good idea for him to travel. I hope he will never be assigned to go to America. I can imagine him calling, “Louisa…problem” from Guantanamo Bay.
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