The Transformation of the Position of a Woman in the Republic of Turkey in the Twentieth Century

The problem under investigation concerning the emancipation of women in Muslim countries and in the countries where Islam has been a dominant ideology is of great scientific and practical importance in the context of the existing stereotypical vision on the status of women in Muslim society. The purpose of the article is to study the transformation of the position of Turkish women, the change of their role as a result of social, administrative, legal, religious and cultural transformations in the Republic of Turkey in the twentieth century. The leading approach to the study of this problem is a historical-comparative method allowing to trace the development of "women's issue" in the Republic of Turkey on the basis of the activities of the companies and organizations, the decisions allowing to change the status of women at the legislative level, as well as to solve the problems concerning women's education, employment and their participation in political life. The article presents the results showing the strengthening of the position of Islamic feminism in which women having estimated all pros and cons of freedom and equality with men, choose Islamic values, despite the growing “sekulyarizovannost” of the society. The submissions of the article may be useful in the research of gender problems of Islamic societies, as well as in contemporary public debates about the place of women in a secular state in which Islam takes the leading positions.