Women in Turkey
All topics-
Women's movements in Turkey
"We women have learned a lot from each other"
From the Kurdish women's movement to the labour movement and Muslim feminists: the German anthology "Women's Movements in Turkey" builds a bridge between activism and academia. A conversation with the editors Iclal Ayse Kucukkirca and Handan Caglayan
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Women in Turkey's local elections
Believe in the power of women!
As Turkey heads towards local elections in March, Qantara.de contributor Ayse Karabat has been helping train female hopefuls seeking to race in these and future elections in a country where women's representation in politics remains staggeringly low. A special report
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Turkey's 100th and contemporary art
What's left of the 'Republican woman'?
The modern, well-educated, progressive woman was a key pillar of the Turkish Republic's social project when it was founded a hundred years ago. How have female visual artists engaged with this ideal and its reality?
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Turkey's brain drain
Turkish artists and intellectuals in exile
Turkey's academics, doctors, engineers and journalists are not the only ones who are leaving the country. A growing number of artists, writers and intellectuals now live in exile. Many of them face prison sentences in Turkey if they return home. Ceyda Nurtsch report
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Ataturk's republic turns 100
Turkey's enduring identity crisis
To mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, German journalist and Qantara.de contributor Cigdem Akyol has written a new history of what she calls "the divided republic". Marian Brehmer read the book
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The Armenian genocide
"Genocide is a feminist issue"
Dots, crosses, lines: tattoos like these were inked on surviving Armenian women after the genocide in the Ottoman Empire. Historian Elyse Semerdjian uses the tattoos to tell their story. Interview by Anna-Theresa Bachmann
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Music festivals in Turkey
Only "halal" festivals acceptable?
In Turkey, concerts and festivals by artists at odds with the government line are being cancelled with increasing frequency. Islamist and nationalist groups are often responsible. Elmas Topcu and Aynur Tekin report
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LGBTQ+ rights in Turkey
Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric intensifies
During this year's election campaigns, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vilified the LGBTQ+ community in an attempt to strengthen his support among conservative voters and drive a wedge between the parties of the opposition alliance. Now the government wants to introduce constitutional amendments that rights groups fear would further marginalise LGBTQ+ people. By Ayşe Karabat
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Morgenland Festival Osnabruck
Countering patriarchal cliches
Focusing on music from the Levant to Central Asia, Osnabruck's Morgenland Festival occupies a special place in the German festival landscape. Prior to the 18th festival, which begins on 21 June, Stefan Franzen spoke to festival manager Michael Dreyer about the musical concept, the political dimension, and whether the term 'Morgenland' [engl. 'the East', 'Orient'] is still in keeping with the times
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Turkey election fallout
Erdogan no winner, despite opposition defeat
The Turkish opposition was defeated in the run-off, with candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu failing to unseat long-time ruler Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who will rule the country for another five years. But the president is hardly the winner. Ayse Karabat reports from Istanbul
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Turkey election run-off
Too much politics of fear from Kilicdaroglu?
Turkey's presidential run-off between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kemal Kilicdaroglu takes place on 28 May. Why were so many surprised by the initial outcome? And why the opposition's sudden political shift to the right? Political scientist Berk Esen talks to Ceyda Nurtsch
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750th anniversary of Rumi’s death – Part 2
A message of love, tolerance and peace
How is Rumi’s legacy preserved in the Mevlevi order today? An interview with Sufi Master Hayat Nur Artiran from Istanbul. By Marian Brehmer