For those interested in women – issues: two quite interesting articles appeared today at Turkish Daily News. The first article deals with women in the Ottoman Empire. The second with women in today’s Turkey.

From “Ottoman Women – betwixt and between reforms”:

Communities do not change quickly. Just a century ago people did not have televisions and Internet. Communications were very slow that exposure to new cultures and ideas had a hard time taking root. While the majority of women in the Ottoman Empire continued to get on with their lives, changes were in the air for upper class women and women with enlightened males in their families.

According to some sources, prior to 1839, it was possible for women to go to school until they were nine or 10. These schools only taught the Qur’an and religious information. Some elderly women might have become teachers in their local neighborhoods using their own homes or possibly a mosque as a school. Those who were opposed to women fulfilling this role were usually against them without asking any questions. Upper class women could and would have been privately tutored.

The year 1839 marked a significant turning point for the Ottoman Empire for those who were eager to implement reforms. It was called the Tanzimat (Reform) Period. Two reform-minded sultans, Mahmud ll and Abdulmecid, began to institute a series of measures aimed at reversing what was perceived as the decline in the Empire.

They were supported by four of the leading intellectuals of the time: Ali Pasha, Fuad Pasha, Ahmet Cevdet Pasha and Midhat Pasha. All these men had been educated in Europe and brought back ideas and proposals based on European situations. It was the association with such origins that made the new ideas and proposals so troublesome to many Ottomans.

Read the whole thing. Although the situation improved for Turkish (Ottoman) women, there still remains work to be done, as proves the second article, “Women try to make their voices heard”:

Women from all around Turkey came together yesterday to propose a roadmap for their future. The third coordination and planning meeting of the women’s Human Rights Education Program (KİHEP) of the women for women’s Human Rights-New Ways (KİH-YÇ) foundation and was attended by 70 women from 20 different cities of Turkey including Adıyaman, Aydın, Çanakkale, Siirt and Istanbul.

KİH-YÇ is a nongovernmental organization operating for the last 12 years supporting the struggle by women for equal and free living against all injustice. İpek İlkkaracan, director of the foundation’s management board, explained the group’s aim as creating a difference in the lives of women in Turkey and to make their voices heard, a right that they have long been deprived of.

Working in collaboration with the Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHÇEK), KİH-YÇ has reached about 5,000 women in 36 cities across Turkey and tried to increase their awareness of womanhood. Rather than creating a school class environment, the workshops of KİHEP are based on round table meetings in which women share their experiences with each other. The topics of discussions include women’s constitutional, civil, political and sexual rights, deconstruction of gender stereotypes and new technologies in fertility and childcare.

Again – a fascinating read – be sure to check it out.

P.S.
I have written less about Turkey in the last couple of weeks because the situation appears to stay the same. Little changes. Turkish troops are assembled nearby the border with Iraq; Turks are fighting the PKK, but no big invasion (yet), nor has the rhetoric become worse.