A woman's privacy is more valuable than the right to public protest!

It had only been 7 years since we emerged from a dark period where women had no value, where four women were considered equal to one man, and where their testimony was not even accepted. The calendar showed the year 1930, but the newly founded Republic of Turkey was living in 1948 compared to Belgium, 1945 compared to Italy and Japan, 1971 compared to Switzerland, and 2015 compared to Saudi Arabia...

The year is 2023... The British government launched a survey for new regulations regarding the Public Order Act concerning women's rights and freedoms. The regulation, which is expected to become law with the new year, contains such clauses for women that it reminds us once again how important Atatürk's perspective on women was in those years...

Let's take a short journey through time...

The Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk knew how valuable it was for Halide Edip Adıvar, Halime Çavuş, Fatma Seher Erden (Kara Fatma), Halide Onbaşı, Şerife Bacı, Nezahat Onbaşı, and many other nameless Turkish women to be involved in the country's administration during the War of Independence.

By saying, "Everything you see on the face of the earth is the work of women," he ensured that women were granted the right to vote and be elected. Women, who were first granted the right to participate in municipal elections in 1930, and later the right to become village headmen (muhtars) and be elected to councils of elders, were granted the right to vote and be elected as members of parliament with the constitutional and electoral law amendment made on December 5, 1934.

The Republic of Turkey was the ninth country in the world to grant women the right to vote and be elected.

At the point we have reached today, let us look at the chasm between Turkish women and British women, who gained the right to vote on equal terms with men only two years before us, in 1928.

"Is the woman of a country that has a leader who said, 'Oh heroic Turkish woman! You deserve to be raised to the skies on shoulders, not to be dragged on the ground,' receiving the value she deserves?"

The Turkish woman, who is still a victim of honor killings in newspaper reports every day, who is insulted because of the length of her skirt, and whose value in society is gradually diminishing, will probably lament "Oh, my Atatürk!" when she hears about the law submitted to a public vote in England...

There is not enough time to describe what women in Turkey are going through. However, I would like to make a reminder regarding the Istanbul Convention, which is still a subject of debate in Turkey. As you know, when Turkey became the first country to sign and the first to ratify in its parliament the convention adopted at the 1111th meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on May 11, 2011, we felt proud and excited, just like in the 1930s.

This was Atatürk's vision...

Then the time machine began its journey backward again. 10 years after the signing date, the conservative wing suddenly targeted the convention. Some media outlets and religious communities began propaganda on the grounds that the convention "disrupted the Turkish family structure." The convention, whose main purpose was to protect women and prevent violence against women, was suddenly torn to pieces on the grounds that it "prepared a legal basis for homosexuality."

In the light of these very discussions, the President made the statement, "If the people want it, remove it. If the public demand is for its removal, let a decision be made accordingly. Whatever the people say, that happens." A public referendum was not held, but women responded to the reactions of the conservative wing with mass protests.

We still do not know which one the public wanted today, but as a result of the presidential decree numbered 3718 on March 20, 2021, it was decided to terminate the convention. Turkey has gone down in history today as the first country to sign and the first to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention.

Let's come to the new legal regulation in the United Kingdom, where the public's opinion is sought through a survey method...

Proposals regarding the law, which was decided in Parliament and restricts certain activities within a 150-meter radius of institutions providing abortion services, were presented to the public. Now you might say, "Wow, are they asking the public about this too?"

The Home Office opened the new regulation, which it plans under the name "Safe Access Zones," to the public from December 11, 2023, to January 22, 2024, and is conducting a 6-week survey. It is possible to participate in the survey both online and via email.

The regulation called "Safe Access Zones" is an effort to ban certain activities within a 150-meter radius of abortion clinics and hospitals providing abortion services. The goal is to provide more protection for women so as not to restrict their right to freely access abortion services...

The United Kingdom is a highly developed country in terms of the right to protest and freedom of expression. You may remember the news about citizens walking around during the pandemic wearing t-shirts with insults directed at Prime Minister Boris Johnson. No one was arrested because of those t-shirts because it was considered freedom of expression.

"I am talking about a regulation that says, 'Even if you are this free, women's privacy comes before you'..."

What is in the regulation planned to be enacted?

1- Activities that will prevent women's access to abortion services and the provision of services by institutions.

2- Activities that will influence and hinder women's decision to have an abortion.

3- Bullying that will cause clinics to be under pressure while providing their services and reduce service security.

In other words, the British are saying, "We respect your right to public protest... But you can do this without harming women, even indirectly, in a psychological way. It doesn't matter if you insult the Prime Minister, but a woman's privacy, both her physical and mental health, is important."

What did we say in the middle of the article? "Oh, my Atatürk!"

As in every field, you were the greatest luck of the Turkish woman.

Even seeking an answer to the question "What if you hadn't existed?" is frightening...