Compared to other countries in the region, women in Turkey have more personal and social freedoms, this is usually considered the result of Kemal Atatürk’s era. But the history of the Turkish women’s movement goes back to the era before Atatürk and the declaration of the republic. The “Turkish Women’s Union” was formed at the end of the Ottoman period as a bridge between the Ottoman women’s movement and the republican women’s movement, and one of the most important achievements of the women’s movement in that period was the admission of women to universities and the restriction of polygamy in the family law.

Later, during the Atatürk era, in 1926, polygamy was completely abolished, and in 1934, women got the right to vote and be elected. In 1935, 18 women were elected to represent the Turkish National Assembly.