Abstract:

While women constitute half of the world's population and electorate, many countries of the world are not adequately represented in political institutions and this creates the problem of equality. In order to talk about a real democracy and to ensure social development, the active participation of women in political representation and decision-making processes, on an equal basis with men, is of vital importance. The process of women gaining equal social and political rights with men intensified in the late 19th century. The first movement on women's rights in Turkish society was with the Tanzimat Edict of 1839, and although some rights were given to women in the Ottoman Empire, which engaged in innovation movements, it is seen that Turkish women were given the social and political rights they deserved in the first years of the Republic. Women who were granted the right to be elected to the Municipality in 1930 and to the village headman and committees in 1933; The right to elect and be elected as a deputy was given on 5 December 1934. While the representation rate of women, who won the power of representation in the Turkish Grand National Assembly in the 1935 elections, compared to male deputies in the parliament, was 4.5%, there was no such increase in the 45-year period until the September 12, 1980 coup, even below it. In the study, the adventure of women's political representation in the parliament from 1935 to 1980 will be presented on the basis of the political environment of the period.