Abstract
In this section, different interviews and documents are explored to discuss the Turkish state’s influence over the production of patriarchal understandings. In the first section, a report from the Ministry of Justice has been explored through the utilization of content analysis to understand how domestic violence has been approached in Turkey. In addition, interviews conducted by human rights lawyers and civil society activists have been discussed. Another document explored in this section is a document issued by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Another document analyzed in this chapter is a book published by a retired judge who intimately described how divisive he finds feminism. In the role of pressure groups, opinions stated by Turgut Ozal University’s academic members have been contested.
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Notes
- 1.
Unfortunately, it is clear from this statement that marriage is a union only observed among a man and a woman. Same-sex marriages, in addition to LGBTI individuals, have not caught the attention of Turkish policy-makers in the year 2014. Perhaps, decades and decades later, other marriages will be recognized.
- 2.
The main reason why the term domestic violence is chosen is because in the original document, the phrase used to discuss such violence is, “violence against women which takes place within the family.” The term domestic violence is probably the closest to that.
- 3.
22 The analysis of state behavior, with regard to its sustenance, will be discussed in a later stage.
- 4.
In legal terms, this is known as unjust provocation, in which the defendant is assumed to be helpless due to the harsh conditions he was facing.
- 5.
This will be discussed when I start analyzing the interviews I personally conducted with feminists in 2014.
- 6.
A participant I interviewed, who is a lawyer, while I was in Turkey in 2014 as I was undertaking ethnographic research, informed me about the rape of the 13-year-old girl.
- 7.
It is important to note that the word honor is commonly used to translate “namus,” which refers to sexual purity in most cases. However, in this statement, the word used was “onur,” which can mean anything and therefore it is very vague. It might refer to social class; it might refer to level of education; it might refer to being veiled or not, etc.
- 8.
The original word used in the interview was “cikmis” which means “to come out of.”
- 9.
The rise of political Islam in Turkey is far more complicated than it was explained in this chapter. It is out of the scope of this research to explain the complexity of the issue.
- 10.
I am not defending an argument that suggests that in order modernize, a country must westernize. Modernization is not entirely a Western concept nor is it universal.
- 11.
Emphasis is made in accordance with the original document.
- 12.
The phrase shroud is meant to refer to a burial garment, a cloth worn after death.
- 13.
The meaning of the Turkish words used in the report published by the Assembly might not translate into English very well. The original words used were, “orf” and “adet.” They both mean tradition, but somehow they are different.
- 14.
Based on an interview conducted with the Minister of Education, Ms. Nimes Cubukcu by the Milliyet Newspaper. Last accessed 29 August 2014, http://www.milliyet.com.tr/turkiye-nin-ortalama-egitim-duzeyi-6-nci-sinif-cikti/siyaset/sondakika/13.01.2011/1338703/1537
- 15.
The name of the commission in the text above reflects the exact translation from “Kadin-Erkek Esitligi Komisyonu.” It is important to note that it is not considered as a matter of gender equality.
- 16.
Interviewed participant in December 2014, Ankara, Turkey.
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Akgul, F. (2017). State Reproduction of Patriarchy. In: Patriarchal Theory Reconsidered. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49766-2_6
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