Turkish women and elections in the context of given political rights (1935-1946)

The Turkish women who had the right to vote and to be elected in the municipal elections on April 3, 1930 were granted the right to vote for and to be elected as deputies by law dated December 5, 1934 and numbered 2598. The Turkish women who had gained political rights participated in the 1935 elections for the first time and took place in the assembly from various provinces and regions by assuming the title of "member of parliament". Turkish women who gained rights as representatives for the first time, even though there were exceptions, were cautiously chosen from women who were generally well educated, pioneers in their profession and who had embracedthe Republican revolution during the parliamentary elections. In the elections of 1935, 18 women deputies and in the elections of 1939 and 1943, 16 women deputies from various provinces and regions succeeded in entering the assembly. When the speeches of the women deputies who had served who had served in the assembly during the 5th (1935-1939), 6th(1939-1943) and 7th (1943-1946) periods have been examined, it has been observed that they usualy tend to dwell on the subjects such as "woman, child, education and culture". Although they were not very effective in political decision making, they have expressed their opinions and had a voice in internal and external events of the period concerned. Despite all this struggle, it is interesting that the ratio of the number of all women parliamentarians of women parliamentarians participating for the first time in the Turkish Grand National Assembly remained at around 4%, and this rate decreased gradually in the following two periods. Keywords: Democracy, Women Deputies, Civil and Political Rights, Elections.