Turkish women can now continue to use their maiden names after marriage. With the landmark ruling by the Constitutional Court entering into force on Jan. 28, married women can now use their maiden surname without resorting to court proceedings.
The country's top court nullified the provision in Article 187 of the Turkish Civil Code last year, which mandated that a married woman should adopt her husband's surname. The court had cited a violation of the principle of equality regarding the article.
With the decision now in force, attention turns to Parliament, which has nine months provided by the Constitutional Court to enact a new regulation and avoid legal gaps. The issue is expected to be addressed in the new judicial reforms, the details of which will be discussed in the upcoming period in Parliament.
Suppose the new judicial package incorporates changes in line with the Constitutional Court's annulment decision. In that case, women will continue to have the right to use their birth surnames without the need to file a lawsuit after marriage.
Before this, women in Türkiye already had the right to use their own and their husbands' surnames by satisfying the civil registry officials without applying to the court.
Last April, the Constitutional Court announced the decision: "It has been concluded that the differential treatment between women and men in terms of using the maiden name before and after marriage violates the principle of equality."
In a televised interview last week, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç stated that the judicial reforms will be presented to Parliament by the end of February or the beginning of March, initiating discussions among members of Parliament.
He highlighted that one of the main aims of the reforms, encompassing overhauls ranging from the civil to the penal code, is to address "the perception impunity for certain crimes in society due to the implementation of probation."
