Prominent Women in Turkish Sociopolitical Life from Tanzimat to Early-Republican Era

Women’s role in social, political, and economic lives started being questioned after the feminist movements in the western world. Concordantly, from the Tanzimat reform era to establishment of the Republic of Turkey, women’s effort to involve in public realm in Turkish society was seen. In this article, feminist movements in Ottoman–Turkish modernization and leading women’s efforts are analyzed. In Ottoman–Turkish modernization, it is also analyzed that whether the social, political, and economic achievements of women were the natural results of Ottoman-Turkish modernization or the results of feminist movements and leading women’s efforts. Additionally, in modernization efforts of Turkish society and formation of identity of women, the effect of feminist movements is discussed