Türkiye’de Kadınların Siyasal Katılımda Konumu
The Position of Women in Political Participation in Turkey

Author(s): Ceren Avcil
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Political history, Gender history, Government/Political systems
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Gender; women and political participation; democracy;
Summary/Abstract: Certain reforms and regulations have been implemented in Turkey to allow women to play an active role in politics. Women were granted the right to vote and stand for election in 1934 empowering women to actively participate in politics. Such regulations granting women access to decision-making mechanisms as equal citizens are regarded as a significant step towards the ideal of “reaching the level of contemporary civilisations”. Nevertheless, to this day women are observed not to enjoy the desired level of representation in politics and notably in the parliament in Turkey. Equal political representation for women is currently hindered by obstacles, as well as certain viewpoints against the acknowledgment of women in politics. The present study addresses the position of female representation in the parliament of Turkey between 1935 and 2018. The study conducted a literature review on the concept of gender and the specific factors of consequence for women’s engagement in politics. It has furthermore assessed the data concerning the representation of women. The most fundamental finding is underrepresentation of women. The study emphasises that lack of active positioning of women in politics is not a problem of mere figures, but essentially represents a problem of democracy and recommends enforcement of targeted regulations that will encourage women to take part and play an active role in politics (e. g. gender quotas).

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