The honor of the revolution: The right of women to vote and be elected

It was 90 years ago. Turkish women gained the right to vote and be elected before many Western countries.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who saw women not just as mothers but as "individuals" representing half of society and who set an example for the world with his "enlightened and pioneering woman project," initiated the "age of women."

The Civilized World(!) had debated gender equality for years and even engaged in research comparing the female brain to the male brain, yet it had been very stingy, especially regarding political rights. The young Republic, however, overcame the debates on gender equality in one fell swoop, incorporating women among the nation's leaders and pioneers.

This was the victory of the Revolution, its pride, its honor, and its hope…

Women's education rates were rising rapidly. Women were now gaining visibility in schools, universities, social life, and scientific life. They were becoming lawyers, engineers, teachers, doctors, and chemists, and even taking to the skies; just like Sabiha Gökçen, the world's first female fighter pilot.

In the 1935 General Elections, 18 female deputies entered the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Among them, one was very special. Turkey's first and still only peasant female deputy; Satı Çırpan. "Satı Kadın" was also made a member of the Agriculture Commission.

It was unimaginable in those days that it would unfortunately take 64 years to reach 18 female deputies in Turkey's political life.

Yet, the day came, and the counter-revolutionaries took action. Clean and clear waters began to be made to flow in reverse.

Those who saw even women's rights, a fresh sprout, as too much for women tried to exclude them from social life. At times, they rolled up their sleeves to prune their right to life and their freedoms by citing "nature" (fıtrat).

There were those who walked the path with sects that declared women a "focus of sedition," "deficient in intellect and religion," "destined for hell," and "partners of the devil," and even those who considered them "democratic mass organizations."

The unity and integrity of the Women's Movement were wounded. Ideological and ethnic divisions began to divide the strength of the resistance as well.

Educated and conscious advocates of women's rights found it difficult to reach out to women who lived outside their own worlds, who were abandoned to loneliness, and who were held captive by sects. Because they were "women of other worlds."

Now I want to give a voice to the "women of other worlds."

They are uneducated; the majority are illiterate or only literate, and they live in impoverished regions. They are not even aware that they have rights. They have been imprisoned in small worlds, humiliated, and undervalued. They are lonely, excluded from society, and helpless.

They explain their reasons for joining a sect as an opportunity for socialization.

A woman in Istanbul says the following:

"We had the chance to both enter new friend circles and see other districts. I managed to get out of the neighborhood I live in thanks to this. Our husbands also give permission."

"Sects are places where women can gain status and even be appreciated."

A mother explains that she immediately sends her daughter to Quran courses and that she receives appreciation from society thanks to this, saying, "this becomes a state of pride."

Another tells boastfully, "we attain status through the dreams we see in the sects."

There are those who explain that they overcame the loneliness in their newly moved neighborhood by joining a sect and making new friends, and those who say they feel important in life through the fairs, chats, and seminars organized by the communities... Hundreds of thousands of women flowing into sects with misconceptions and false perceptions created...

The claims that sects and communities provide their followers with a social identity, nurture feelings of belonging, create opportunities for socialization, ensure they receive attention from others, and reinforce feelings of solidarity and trust prove the success of perception operations. Sect and community leaders who appear on television also lend legitimacy to the "sect phenomenon," making them seem reliable.

How painful it is that many women who have no choice but to take refuge in this dangerous and dark world even see sects as a "means of liberation and gaining an identity." By the time they realize that the environment they live in is disconnected from the world and full of dangers, it is too late. Who will tell them that the mental and physical blockade they suffer under the command of deviant sheikhs has taken away their entire lives, and that what is taught as "religion" in sect education full of superstitions is not religion? Who will reach out? Who will help them claim an identity where they know they are valuable and are aware of their rights?

On the 90th anniversary of the granting of the Right to Vote and Be Elected to women, the "Women of the Revolution" must produce a solution to this major problem. To protect Atatürk's Women's Revolution, we must find ways to embrace women from all segments of society. Meeting them in the same world will open paths to saving our children as well.