This paper argues that renowned feminist Şirin Tekeli’s views about women rights in Turkey
were radically different from the pre-existing Kemalist ones. The Kemalist ideology stemmed
from the philosophies of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and largely based on laicism, nationalism,
and modernism. Tekeli was one of the first to actively criticize their approach to women rights
as a whole in Turkey. This paper outlines the differences Tekeli had with the status quo of
women rights in the 1980s and argues that she had a fundamentally different view of the issue.
She wanted to radically change the whole system in favor of women.
