Nakiye Elgün’s message was simple: “We are a whole.” One of the first female lawmakers of the Turkish Parliament, Elgün noted in her speech in 1935 that men and women worked together in many fields but they were “honored” to be part of Parliament.
On Tuesday, Türkiye marks the 89th anniversary of a constitutional amendment that paved the way for women to exercise voting rights and to be elected into political offices, from municipal councils to Parliament. Elgün was among 17 female lawmakers elected into Parliament in 1935, one year after women were granted suffrage and about 11 years after the Republic of Türkiye was founded.
“Turks worked together everywhere but I am pleased to be one of the first female lawmakers here in this most honorable place to be. I cannot find words to describe our joy to be given this honor. But everyone should know that we will work as a whole, as united, like we did in the past,” Elgün said. Minutes of her speech in the parliamentary archives show 52-year-old Elgün, an educator who worked for girls’ education as an activist in the last days of the Ottoman Empire, was occasionally excited and paused her speech. “I am sorry for my excitement for this rare occasion,” she says in one instance.
Since Elgün and fellow lawmakers made it into Parliament, Turkish women have come a long way in political representation. But for decades, their numbers lagged in Parliament and even dropped over the years. Indeed, up until the 23rd session of the assembly that started in 2007, their percentage did not exceed 5%. In the current composition after last May’s elections, female lawmakers have 119 seats in the 600-seat Parliament.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) will celebrate the anniversary at an event on Wednesday at its headquarters organized by the party’s women’s branch. First lady Emine Erdoğan is also set to attend the event. The party’s women’s branch director Ayşe Keşir called upon women for nomination “at every level” in upcoming municipal elections set to be held in March 2024.
Keşir told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the AK Party always highlighted the importance of women’s place in local and national politics. “The politics start at a local level and we want women to start the politics in their own neighborhood, their street. They have many positions to start with, from muhtars (elected village or neighborhood heads) or members of municipal assembly, or mayors,” she said on Monday.
Keşir underlined that their ultimate goal was to have at least one female municipal assembly member elected. “It is possible to achieve our dream for a greater Türkiye by standing together as women and men,” she said.
The latest parliamentary elections, held simultaneously with the presidential vote in May, brought an unprecedented victory to women in the history of the Republic of Türkiye.
The new term of Parliament is the highest in terms of women’s representation, at more than 20%, compared to 17.1%. Women also make up the bulk of the youngest lawmakers in the new Parliament. The Green Left Party (YSP) has the highest number of female lawmakers compared to their total number in Parliament. However, it is the AK Party that has the highest number of female lawmakers in the legislative body at 50. The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the YSP have 30 female lawmakers each, while the Good Party (IP), ruled by Meral Akşener, the only female chair of a major political party in Türkiye, has six female lawmakers. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has four, while the Turkish Labor Party has one.
The AK Party boasts an increase in its female lawmakers, up from 17.9% to 18.7%, while its main rival CHP increased this rate to 17% from 12.2%. Nevertheless, women were absent from 31 provinces in the parliamentary polls. From Adıyaman in the east to Ordu in the north and Çanakkale in the west, those provinces failed to elect a female lawmaker to Parliament.
In 1930, Turkish women were granted suffrage in local elections held that year. Four years later, Turkish women were among the first in Europe to achieve the right to vote and run for elected office through a constitutional amendment. Since then, women have been active in national politics and founded the National Women's Party of Turkey in 1972 and the Women's Party in 2014.
It is still a man’s game in the country and although women have a relatively larger presence in Parliament, few women are elected as mayors in 81 provinces.
Women’s suffrage and the right to stand for electoral office have a tarnished history in parallel with Türkiye’s shaky political scene. Led by founding President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the country switched to a republic in 1923, but it was not until 1946 that it adopted a multiparty democracy. Democrats split from the all-too-powerful CHP and introduced Türkiye to true, multiparty democracy.
However, they met with a tragic end as the country’s first coup in 1960 derailed democracy. That coup would pave the way for more of its kind and haunt the women seeking a voice in politics. Women had a right to stand for office but it applied only to “certain women.” It was not until a 2014 amendment that women wearing headscarves had a chance to be elected. The amendment by the AK Party ended the decades-old influence of an ultra-secular mindset in Turkish politics, an unprecedented victory for women wearing the headscarf, who were shunned from politics under the pretext of secularism.
