Türk Kadınlar Birliği facts for kids
The Türk Kadınlar Birliği (which means Turkish Women's Union) was an important group for women in Turkey. It started in 1924. This group worked to get women the right to vote. It was a big part of the history of women's rights in Turkey.
How the Turkish Women's Union Began
In 1923, Turkey became a new country called the Turkish Republic. A brave woman named Nezihe Muhiddin tried to start a political group. It was called the Women's People Party. But this party could not officially register. This was because women in Turkey did not yet have the right to vote.
So, Nezihe Muhiddin decided to create a different group. She founded the Türk Kadınlar Birliği. The main goal of this new group was to help women get the right to vote.
Gaining Women's Rights in Turkey
The leader of Turkey, President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, wanted to help women. He agreed with many of the goals of the women's movement. He made three big changes to help women:
- Girls and boys could go to school together. This meant everyone got the same education.
- A new law, the Swiss Civil Code of 1926, was introduced. This law gave Turkish women the same rights as women in Switzerland.
- Finally, in 1935, women were given the right to vote.
A Big Meeting and a New Era
In 1935, the Türk Kadınlar Birliği hosted a very important event. It was the Twelfth Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance. This big meeting brought together people from all over the world. They met in Istanbul to talk about women's right to vote.
Later that same year, President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk officially gave women the right to vote. This was a huge victory for the Türk Kadınlar Birliği! Since their main goal was achieved, the group's president, Latife Bekir, decided to close the organization.
Many of the women who were elected to the Turkish Parliament in 1935 had been members of the Türk Kadınlar Birliği. After the group closed, the women's rights movement in Turkey joined with the main political party. An independent women's movement did not start again until the 1980s.
