Women’s Rights and Islam in Turkish Politics: The Civil Code Amendment

Literature on Turkey’s 2001 civil code amendment, which expanded women’s rights, is limited to reports on the code’s achievements and failings. This article examines the parliamentary debates behind the amendment to shed light on the contemporary Islamist-secularist polarization in Turkey. It shows that women’s rights are still a means to pursue the goals of secularist modernization. They shape the power struggle over what the role of religion in public life should be and what secularism should entail.