New move in the Turkish Parliament regarding married women's surnames: Step back from the government

The provision in the judicial package that prevented married women from using only their own surnames has been removed from the text following backlash against the government.

While deliberations on the 9th Judicial Package continue in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), the provision that prevented married women from using only their own surnames has been removed from the draft text.

Announcing that the government has taken a step back from the regulation, CHP Group Deputy Chairman Ali Mahir Başarır stated the following:

'IT IS AT THE WOMAN'S DISCRETION'

"Deliberations on the 9th Judicial Package are continuing in the TBMM. The most controversial article, the one we do not accept at all, is the 'woman's surname'. The CHP has been showing resistance for two days. A woman can use whatever surname she wants. She can use her own surname, she can use their joint surname with her husband, or she can use her husband's surname. This is at the woman's discretion. It is not the place of the AK Party government or its parliamentary group to interfere with this.

'I THANK TURKISH WOMEN VERY MUCH'

As a result of the struggle put up by the entire group, this article was removed from the proposal today. I would like to thank my group, my fellow deputies, female deputies, women's organizations, associations, and the millions of Turkish women who opposed this article very much."

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

The Constitutional Court found the law contrary to equality in 2023

The Istanbul 8th Family Court applied to the Constitutional Court in 2023 for the annulment of the regulation stating, "A woman takes her husband's surname upon marriage; however, she may also use her previous surname before her husband's surname by making a written application to the marriage officer or later to the population directorate. A woman who previously used two surnames can benefit from this right for only one surname."

The court justified its application by stating that while it is possible for a man to use the surname he acquired at birth throughout his life, not granting the same right to a woman is incompatible with the principle of equality.

The Constitutional Court evaluated this application and decided to annul the provision, emphasizing that women and men have equal rights and that the family is based on "equality between spouses." The decision also recalled that women could use their maiden names by applying to the judiciary, and paved the way for women to use their maiden names without a court order.

It was envisaged that the decision, which was issued in April 2023, would be implemented 9 months later.

THE 9TH JUDICIAL PACKAGE HAD NOT TAKEN THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT'S DECISION INTO ACCOUNT

The "Draft Law on Amendments to Certain Laws," known as the 9th Judicial Package, which was submitted to the TBMM in July, proposed a legal article that ignored the Constitutional Court's decision regarding women's surnames and envisaged the continuation of the old practice.

The new package included that a woman could only use her maiden name together with her husband's surname. In the justification of the article, it was stated that "parents using different surnames could have negative effects on the child and which surname the child would use could become a subject of debate."

Women's rights advocates had shown intense reaction to the submission of the draft law to the TBMM in this form.

HOW IS THE PRACTICE IN OTHER COUNTRIES?

So, in which countries can women continue to use their maiden names?

In countries such as the USA, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Italy, women can continue to use their maiden names after marriage. In many countries, children take the father's surname. In some countries like France, parents decide together which surname their children will use.

News Source: 12punto