Gender Rights and Freedoms in Turkey and the Arab World: Spring or Winter?

Gender Rights and Freedoms in Turkey and the Arab World: Spring or Winter?, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
This issue of Turkish Policy Quarterly (TPQ) looks at how dynamics unleashed by the Arab Spring are affecting women’s rights and liberties across the Arab world, and how Turkey relates to these complex trends. Authors seek to illuminate...

Nigâr Göksel

Being a Woman in Turkey and in the Middle East, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
In all of the Islamic geography, there is a wide gap between men and women in terms of rights, and society expects women to solely fulfill the traditional roles of a wife and a mother. The initial hopes of the Arab Spring bringing increased...

Sedef Küçük

Turkey and Egypt: Where is the Model?, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Turkey has established itself as a secular democracy that is steadily progressing towards achieving equal rights for women. The economic crisis Turkey was in at the beginning of the century has been replaced with an economic miracle by the...

Moushira Khattab

Syrian Women's Two-Pronged Battle, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Covering the Syrian uprising for the last two years for CNN, Arwa Damon has personally interacted with Syrian female opposition activists from all social strata, religious backgrounds and beliefs. Damon delves into the role that Syrian women...

Arwa Damon

Reforms and Political Participation of Women in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Over the past four decades, Bahrain has achieved considerable progress in socioeconomic development. With its diverse dimensions, this progress has positively influenced the role of women in society and their ability to effectively contribute...

Bahiya Jawad Aljishi

Gender and Development in Turkey, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
While many significant institutional and legal improvements have been realized in the last two decades in Turkey, women have continued to experience significant setbacks. Turkey’s commendable economic development does not always...

Selma Acuner

For Women of the Arab Spring, Iranian Women Provide a Warning and a Model, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
In the mass movements that swept the Arab world, there were no specific demands for improving women’s status or gender equality under the law. However, the women who came out into the streets were hoping for and expecting an expansion,...

Haleh Esfandiari

Beyond the Headscarf: Secularism and Freedom of Religion in Turkey, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The continuing stalemate in the headscarf controversy in Turkey stems from a mutual distrust about the way the concepts of secularism, democracy, and religious freedom are understood. Both Kemalist secularism, which defends the headscarf ban...

Umut Azak

Women and Modernity: Turkey’s Conundrums, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Turkey has made exceptional gains in the last decade; however, these are overshadowed by the country’s low rankings in global gender indexes. One reason behind this fact is the exclusion of headscarved women from the public sphere. As...

Fatma Benli

Women as Drivers of Change in the Arab World, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Well before the Arab Spring, agents of change in the Arab world were slowly, but successfully removing cultural constraints on gender equality through education, entrepreneurship and political empowerment, thereby linking economic strategy...

Haifa Fahoum Al Kaylani

Queering Conservative Democracy, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its official political identity of conservative democracy dominated the first decade of the new millennium in Turkey. Conservative democracy rests on a fusion of a particularistic conservative...

Sinan Birdal

The New Constitution of Turkey: A Blessing or a Curse for LGBT Citizens?, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Turkey has long been governed by constitutions prepared under the purview of military juntas. Promises of a new “civilian” constitution have given hope to different minority groups long suffering from either no recognition or...

Volkan Yılmaz

No Living on Land or in Air: Discourse of Public Morality and Human Rights Violations of Transgender Individuals in Turkey, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The basic human rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals living in Turkey are systematically infringed by the state and its institutions, as well as by private individuals. Analysis of a number of cases reveals...

Sedef Çakmak

Turkey and LGBT Rights: A Historical and Global Perspective, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
During the last decade, LGBT rights has transformed into an international issue, making it more urgent for Ankara to address issues of its own LGBT community. When placed in the domestic context, the LGBT struggle has followed the path of...

Louis Fishman

Women’s Liberties and Gender Equality in Tunisia: The Asthma of the Arab Spring?, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
It has been two years since the popular uprising in Tunisia started with the hope of freedom, dignity, and democracy. This country that inspired other Arab countries for the “spring” blossom is still waiting to reach its real...

Pelin Gönül Şahin

Digitization in Jordan's Post Arab Spring Reform Struggle, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The Jordanian government has made pledges in the past to implement political, economic, and media reforms. Although some of these reforms have taken a step backwards, digitization and enhanced access to information and news has contributed...

Women and the Welfare State Regime of Turkey, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Turkey’s dramatically low female Labor Force Participation (LFP) rate of 30 percent is a salient challenge, particularly considering the increase of female LFP rates at both the EU and OECD level. However, women’s LFP is a complex...

Tuğba Bozçağa

Do Gender Quotas in Politics Work? The Case of the 2011 Polish Parliamentary Elections, Winter 2013Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Women’s participation in Polish politics has never achieved a critical mass. Therefore a broad social movement of female activists launched an extraordinary campaign, resulting in changes in the electoral law. Gender quotas were...