Aftermath of a Revolution: A Case Study of Turkish Family Law (original) (raw)

In this paper, I challenge the conventional wisdom that secular laws of the Turkish Republic have constituted a clear and absolute break from the Islamic laws of the country’s predecessor, the Ottoman Empire. Specifically, I discuss in detail the adoption of and amendments to the Turkish Civil Codes of 1926 and 2002, which govern various matters including family relations, marriage and divorce. A detailed analysis of family law provisions contained in both these Turkish Civil Codes demonstrates that although significant progress has been made toward gender equality, certain Islamic laws dealing with female sexuality survive in their entirety, and in contradiction to the general spirit of gender egalitarianism of the codes. I argue that this is not anomalous considering that revolutions are often built upon inherited politico-legal and social foundations, and thus often fail to completely eradicate the past.