The Turkish government is facing a backlash for its proposal on the 9th Judicial Reform Package, which will restrict women’s right to use their maiden names after marriage, disregarding a Constitutional Court ruling. The proposal, included in the reform package expected to reach the parliament next week, undermines previously secured legal rights and gender equality, say women’s rights advocates.
On 22 February 2023, the Constitutional Court ruled against a regulation in the Civil Code that required women to take their husband’s surnames upon marriage unless they applied to use their maiden name alongside it. The court deemed this rule unconstitutional and mandated the parliament to enact a new law within nine months to ensure gender equality in surname rights. Despite this directive, the parliament has yet to implement the required changes and has instead included a similar regulation in the new reform package.
Sevda Çelik Özbingöl, a spokesperson of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party’s Legal Commission, criticised the proposed changes, stating, “This right should be legally recognised, yet today it is being overlooked. The old law is being presented as new, with no adjustments made after the annulment decision. We reject this attitude of stripping legally earned rights through such regulations.” Özbingöl went on to warn of broader implications, pointing to recent decisions such as Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention as evidence of a trend towards policies that undermine women’s rights.
Özbingöl called for more progressive, democratic and egalitarian legal reforms that support women’s empowerment both as citizens and as individuals. “We need regulations that go over and above old laws, meet societal needs, and strengthen women both as citizens and as individuals. But the recent legal changes reveal a politically driven approach that disregards women,” she said. She urged societal resistance and solidarity among women to oppose these regressive measures, highlighting the importance of recognising the political nature of women’s rights issues.
The battle over surname rights, culminating in Constitutional Court ruling for reform, highlights a recurring pattern under the Justice and Development Party (AKP)-Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) dominated legislature. Rather than enacting the required changes, the legislature tries to introduce a more restrictive legal framework that will be difficult to contest. This pattern underscores a critical aspect of Turkish governance, where the ruling elites do not recognise the notion of vested rights, believing that rights can only be granted by the state itself.
