88th anniversary of women's suffrage in Türkiye: Over 80 percent of MPs are men

* From top to bottom: First woman major, Müfide İlhan, and first mukhtar Gül Esin in Türkiye, at the bottom, Algiers, 1962

Click to read the article in Turkish

Women in Türkiye gained the right to vote and to stand in parliamentary elections 88 years ago today, on December 5, 1934.

In the first elections held following this date, 18 women were elected MP and they represented 4.5 percent of the parliament. With this, Türkiye became the second country in the world for the ratio of women MPs in parliament.

Today, with the exception of the People's Democratic Paty (HDP), 75 percent or more of the MPs are men in all political parties represented in parliament in Türkiye.

Women are representing only 17.2 percent of the current parliament in total today. 

According to a report by the Association for Supporting Women Candidates (Ka.Der) 20 provinces in Türkiye have not ever been represented by a woman MP. These provinces are, Adıyaman, Ardahan, Artvin, Bayburt, Burdur, Erzincan, Giresun, Gümüşhane, Karabük, Karaman, Kilis, Kırıkkale, Kırklareli, Kırşehir, Nevşehir, Niğde, Osmaniye, Rize, Sinop, and Yozgat.

In the world

New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote and the right to stand in elections on September 19, 1893.

Approximately a hundred years later, in 1997, Jenny Shipley became the first elected prime minister of the country.

In 1934, Türkiye granted women the right to vote and to stand in parliamentary elections 11 years before France, Italy, Croatia, and Slovenia, 12 years before Romania, 13 years before Bulgaria, 14 years before Belgium, 15 years before Greece, and 36 years before Switzerland.