BRIEF HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE WOMEN'S ORGANISATIONS IN TURKEY

Women's organisations in Turkey have a long history. In the Ottoman period women came together in order to gain and advocate their rights and to find solutions to their problems. From 1908 onwards, many organisations, advocating women's' rights and aiming to generate awareness of women's issues, were established. Anadolu Kadınları Müdafaai Vatan Cemiyeti ( Association of Women in Anatolia to defend the homeland ) founded in 1919, deserves to be mentioned as an organisation which enabled the widest participation by women during the National Liberation War and aimed to mobilise women against the occupying forces.

In the first years of the Republic, women went through a significant struggle to obtain their rights in the public sphere. The mainstream historical narrative and the common discourse on the process of women gaining their political rights concealed the struggle of women. However, today, we are aware of the role of the Union of Turkish Women, between 1924 and 1935, in advocating these rights.

The most stagnant period in the history of women's movement in Turkey was between 1935 and 1948. The strength of the image of women as the guardians of the reforms in period was so powerful that it overshadowed the real need for women's emancipation. During these years, women's activism substantially decreased.

From 1948 to 1970, a rapid increase in the number of women's organisations was observed. However, it would not be incorrect to say that most of these organisations were aiming at serving society and carrying on charitable activities, rather than focusing on the empowerment of women as individuals.

The 1970s and 1980s were the years of the most widespread politicisation in Turkey. During this period, women's organisations were overwhelmingly the extensions of left-wing political parties. The most powerful organisation among them was the Association of Progressive Women. It has the most widespread organisational structure with 33 branch offices and 15,000 members. The association which was active between 1975 and 1980 primarily defined itself as the organisation of working class women, even though its activities were focused both on women's issues and the general political struggle. It organised campaigns, various training programmes, activities of organisation and solidarity.

Within the framework of the second wave of women's movement that began after 1980, women have expressed their demands for individual autonomy. They defined feminism as the struggle for claiming their rights on their 'labour', 'bodies', and 'identities'; and aimed to struggle against patriarchy and sexism in all spheres of life. Most of the women's organizations, established with the momentum of the movement, displayed feminist characteristics and have succeeded in keeping the women's issue in the national political agenda by their discourse, questioning patriarchy and actions against gender inequality. The most significant characteristic of the post-1990s women's movement is the diversity of the types of organizations, the wide range of their membership and the constructive creative attitude for the solution of the problems of women.

With this history of struggle behind them, today's women's organisations are broad, diverse and multi- dimensioned, ready to continue the fight for women's emancipation in this millennium.

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