Izmir Women's Congress in its 103rd year

The War of Independence and the founding of the Republic were a process of congresses. Several congresses were held even before Mustafa Kemal Pasha landed in Samsun on May 19, 1919. The Amasya Circular, and the Erzurum and Sivas Congresses are the most well-known. There were 31 congresses with the National Struggle on their agenda. However, there are three other important congresses beyond these. The Education Congress (Maarif Kongresi), held in Ankara between July 19 and 25, 1921, while the enemy army had reached Polatlı, and the Turkey Economic Congress, held in Izmir on February 17, 1923, are the most well-known. However, the Izmir Women's Congress, held on February 2, 1923, 15 days before the Turkey Economic Congress, is an important congress that has been overlooked. The Izmir Women's Congress is the beginning of Mustafa Kemal's Enlightenment Revolutions, even before the Republic was founded.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha addressing a crowd dominated by women at the Izmir İncir Han. February 2, 1923. Source: Ahmet Güler…

Turkey only became aware of this congress in 2023, 100 years later, as a result of the attention of economic historian Dr. Serdar Şahinkaya. Following the meticulous work of Dr. Şahinkaya and Prof. Dr. Coşkun Küçüközmen, and the initiatives and support of Mehmet Ali Kasalı, who was the President of BASİFED (Federation of Western Anatolian Industrialists and Businesspeople Associations) in 2023, and Betül Sezgin, the President of the Izmir Business Women's Association (İZİKAD) at that time, the Izmir Women's Congress was convened for the second time in its 100th year.

The Republic had not yet been proclaimed, but the idea of establishing a Republic had been in Mustafa Kemal Pasha's mind from the very beginning. In his speech at the congress, Mustafa Kemal Pasha stated, "One must be convinced that everything you see in the world is the work of women," explaining what the newly established state and social structure would be like. Women and men would be completely equal. The messages given were clear.

A state and social structure would be built based on science, far from superstitions. Housework should be the most insignificant and minor task for women. Like all men, women should go through the entire education process, including the sciences, and take part in working and social life as equals. "If a nation wants to progress and become civilized, it is obliged to accept this point as a basis."

With the support of the Izmir business world, this congress was convened again on February 2, 2023, in its 100th year. More than 50 women—workers, farmers, businesspeople, and scientists from various parts of Turkey—spoke on panels and presented papers.

Tomorrow (February 2, 2026) is the 103rd anniversary of the Izmir Women's Congress. Izmir and Turkey have gained a new television channel. Egemax TV, which broadcasts at a national level from Izmir and has taken on the mission of being the voice of Izmir and the Aegean… It is possible to watch the channel on Digitürk 663 (I hope it will move to higher positions soon), on satellite, on Facebook, and on YouTube.

Egemax has prepared a special program for the 103rd anniversary of the Izmir Women's Congress in a manner befitting its mission of being "the spokesperson for Izmir and the Aegean."

The special program featured the names who brought the Women's Congress to light: the BASİFED President of that period, Mehmet Ali Kasalı; the İZKİAD President of that period, Betül Sezgin; the General President of the Turkish Association of University Women, Meral Güler; Dr. Serdar Şahinkaya; and Prof. Dr. Coşkun Küçüközmen. The program was facilitated by the channel's main news anchor, Ayşegül Koç. I humbly produced the program and worked in the control room with the technical crew behind the camera. Another important Izmir brand, Folkart, also contributed to the program. The program will be broadcast on Sunday, February 1, between 16:00 and 18:00, and on Monday, February 2, again between 16:00 and 18:00. I recommend you watch it.

In the program, the Women's Revolution, an inseparable part of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's Enlightenment Revolutions, was discussed as it was during and after the founding of the Republic in Izmir, the city of liberation and foundation, 103 years ago. The status of women in Turkey was discussed as we leave the first quarter of the 21st century, 100 years later. It emerged in a very painful way that, far from making any progress, we have gone quite far backward.