1843  Midwife training for women was included in the medical school education.

1847 Imperial rescript, which granted the right of equal heritage to boys and girls, was issued.

1856 Concubine and slave trade prohibited.

1858   A provision stipulating equal sharing of inheritance between men and women was enacted to the Land Code.  Consequently, women were granted the right of property via inheritance.

1858 Secondary Schools for Girls were established.

1869 Terakk-i Muhadderat (Women’s Progress) Magazine known as the first periodical publication for women was published .

1869 Public Education Regulations (Maarif-i Umumiye Nizamnamesi) which stipulated legal obligation for the education of girls were enacted.  

1870 Women Teachers’ Training School (Dar-ül Muallimat) was established.

1871 Marriage contract was stipulated to be acted in the presence of an official civil servant, marriage age was stipulated to be 18 for men and 17 for women and forced marriage was stipulated to become null and void as per the Family Law Decree enacted for the imposition of Mecelle (Ottoman Civil Code).

1876 The Constitution (First constitution) was ratified and the fundamental rights were regulated. Primary school education was stipulated to be obligatory for boys and girls.

1897 Women entered into the labor force as paid workers.

1913 Women, for the first time, started to work as state officials.

1914 Women began trade and commerce.

1914 The first university for women (Ýnas Darülfünunu) was established.

1921 Mixed education was commenced in the universities (Darülfünun).

1922 Seven girls were registered and started their education in the Faculty of Medicine.

June, 1923 Attempts were made to establish the Women People’s Party which was the first political party for women under the leadership of Nezihe Muhittin. However, it has been initiated as an association due to the fact that the establishment of the party was not approved by the Governor’s office as per the Law of Election(1909) which did not grant women the right to vote.

October 29, 1923 The Turkish Republic was proclaimed. At the same time, the legal and the structural reforms that enable women’s involvement in the public sphere has been speeded up.

March 3, 1924 Unification of Education and Training Law was enacted (Tevhid-i Tedrisat). Accordingly, education was secularized and all of the educational institutions were attached to the Ministry of National Education. Girls and boys started to be educated equally.

February 17, 1926 Turkish Civil Law was adopted. Regulations on polygamy and unilateral divorce of men as per law were abolished, women were granted the right to divorce, child custody and property rights. The law was published in the Official Gazette of April 4, 1926 entered into force on October 4, 1926.

1930 Municipality Law was enacted. Women were granted with the right to vote and be elected in the municipal elections.

1930  Initial regulations on the protection of women and children were executed with General Public Health Law.

1930 Maternity leave was regulated.

June 10, 1933 The Directorate of Technical Education for Girls was established to provide vocational education for girls.

October 26, 1933 Women were granted with the right to be elected as the village governor (muhtar) and as a member of elderly committee with the amendments in Village Law.

December 5, 1934 Women were granted with the right to vote and be elected with the Constitutional amendment.

February 8, 1935 In the 5^th General Elections of Turkish Grand National Assembly, 17 women, for the first time, were elected as the parliament members and this number was raised to 18 in the intermediate elections.

June 8, 1936 Labor Law was enacted. Employment of women was regulated.

1937 Employment of women in underground, hazardous and heavy works was prohibited with ILO Convention no. 45 of 1935.

1945 Maternity insurance (labor aid) was regulated with law no. 4772.

1949 Based on the equal principles for women and men, the Regulation of old age pension was enabled with law no. 5417.

1950 First woman mayor (Müfide Ýlhan) was elected in Mersin.

1952 Maternal- child health service delivery was commenced under the body of Ministry of Health.

1965 Family Planning Law, which regulates free sale and distribution of the contraceptive tools and the right of abortion in case of a medical emergency, was enacted.

December 22, 1966 ILO Convention no.100, dated 1951, which stipulates equal pay for men and women for equal work, was ratified.

26.03.1971 First woman minister (Türkan Akyol) was appointed. 

1975 First World Conference on Women was organized by United Nations in Mexico City and the period between 1975- 85 was announced as “Decade of Women”.

May 27, 1983 Termination of pregnancies up to 10 weeks with abortion and the implementation of the voluntary surgical sterilization methods were enabled with the amendments in the Family Planning Law. In case of abortion, permission of the husbands became obligatory for the married women.

1985 Turkey signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Kinds of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and it entered into force in 1986.

1985 Women’s issue was, for the first time, included as a sector in 5^th Five Year Development Plan and new policies were determined on this issue.

1987 Advisory Committee on the policies concerning women was established under the State Planning Organization.

1989 The first Research and Implementation Center on Women’s Issues was established in Istanbul. The number of these centers in the universities has reached 13.

January 24, 1989 Ministry of Interior declared that women shall be entitled to apply for the district governor examination.

November 29, 1990 Article 159 in Civil  Code which obligated spousal consent for the employment of women has been annulled by the Constitutional Court. Decree of annulment was published in Official Gazette no. 21272, dated July 2, 1992.

1990 Article 438 of the Turkish Criminal Code which had provided for a reduced sentence for a rapist if the injured woman was proven to be a prostitute was annulled by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

April 14, 1990 Women’s Library and Information Center Association opened the first Women’s Library and Information Center.

1990 First women guesthouses were opened under the body of the General Directorate of Social Services and Child Protection to deliver support services for women and children  exposed to violence. The number of guest houses and their capacities was increased to seven and 170 by the year 2000.

1990 The Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women was established with a Decree Having the Force of Law no. 422. The Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women was attached to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security on 25.10.1990 with law no. 3670 as  a national mechanism for the women’s issues and  was attached to the Prime Ministry on 24.06.1991.

September 1990 Local administrations started to deliver services especially for women who were exposed to violence. The first women shelter was established by the Municipality of Bakýrköy  in Turkey.

1991 The first woman governor (Lale Aytaman) was assigned to the  province of Muðla during the 48^th government period.

February 17-20, 1992 The Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women was identified as  the focal point for women’s issues in Turkey in the meeting of United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).

1993 “National Program for the Enhancement of Women’s Integration in Development” Project was initiated by the government of Turkish Republic and the United Nations Development Program. Under this project, training programs,  research projects, pilot projects and statistical/ publication activities were carried out by the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women. Numerous training programs and pilot projects were supported as well as 16 research projects. Also, some of the research projects and  abstract indicators on various gender issues were published.

Moreover, Social Structure and Women Statistics Branch was established in the State Institute of Statistics for the design of a data base based on gender.

1993 The first Women's Research Department was established in Istanbul University and a post graduate program was initiated. Currently, four  universities are offering post graduate programs in Departments of Women Studies.

1993 Women Solidarity Association opened an Advisory Center and  a shelter for women with the supports of Altýndað Municipality.

June 25,1993 The first woman prime minister of Turkey (Tansu Çiller) established the government.

December 5-8, 1993 “Congress on Identity of Women” was organized in collaboration with Under-secretariat of Women and Social Services, Ankara University and Research and Implementation Center on Women’s Issues. The forms of women’s labor, identity of women in politics, recognition of women’s body, production and circulation of women’s image, women in arts and women’s organization types were the  major topics in the agenda of the congress.

1993 Halk Bank started to offer credit facilities with lower interest rates for women in order to promote women’s entrepreneurship.

1994 Information Consultation Bank (3B) was established to deliver services on psychological consultancy for women exposed to violence, entrepreneurship and assessment of manual labor under the body of the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women.

April 5, 1994 The Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women started to implement  Women’s Employment and Promotion Project which is one of the sub-components of Employment and Education Project commenced as per Credit Agreement signed by World Bank and the Republic of Turkey. Sixteen research projects were implemented while thirteen were published as a book within the scope of the project.

A Documentation Center was established where books, articles, thesis, seminar and conference documents of the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women and excerpts from newspapers were compiled and which can also be defined as the only library for women in Ankara. A photography archive, “A Visual Testimony on Women”, was established consisting of 1000 slides and web site. A documentary/ promotion film titled “As Woman Works” was produced with regard to the work life of women.

Gender Training Package, as a modular training material with the aim of gender mainstreaming, was prepared for the personnel of the public, private and non-governmental organizations. The pilot applications were initiated. The project was concluded on June, 2000.

1994 Turkey participated in the UN International Conference for Development and Population (ICDP) in Cairo. The concept of “fertility health” emphasizing the relation between women’s status and health was underlined and an “integrated” approach was adapted on women’s health. In line with this approach, with the participation of relevant groups, “National Action Plan on Women’s Health and Family Planning” was prepared under the coordination of Ministry of Health. The Action Plan publicized in 1998 was prepared by 6 major working groups. Coordination of the women’s status group was undertaken by the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women.

1995 Purple Roof Women’s Shelter opened a shelter for women. Since it was founded, Purple Roof Women’s Shelter delivers consultancy services, through its Advisory Center, for women who are exposed to violence.

1995 Small Entrepreneurship Project, which was executed in 1993 by the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women and with the funds provided by World Bank Japanese Grant Fund as a research project to provide information on  the financial and non-financial services delivered for the women entrepreneurs in our country and their access to these services. Field studies were made in specific provinces under the project and the information  gathered was published as a book.

Publication of monthly “Women’s Bulletin” was commenced to  promote communications and collaboration between voluntary women’s organizations and to disseminate information by the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women in February, 1995. 11 issues have been published.

June 08-11, 1995 A meeting for four days was organized by the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women on “Definition of Policies for Women in Turkey” with the participation of representatives of NGOs and public organizations, parliament members, journalists and academicians in Sinop. Policies for women in terms of institutionalization, political areas, business life, women’s health and education were defined in the meeting which was organized prior to the 4^th World Conference for Women.

July 17-19, 1995 A meeting titled “Eurasian Countries Women’s Cooperation Congress” was organized in collaboration with the DGSPW and Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency in order to enhance the collaboration among women in Eurasian countries and to provide assistance for them to act together with Turkey in Beijing Conference. Establishment of a cooperation group was proposed in the declaration of the congress. Accordingly, “First Meeting of Eurasian Countries Women’s Cooperation Group” was held in Ankara on March 27-29, 1996. A protocol was prepared for the institutionalization of this cooperation in the meeting and the signatures of seven participant countries are required for the enforcement of the protocol.

August, 30 – September, 8 1995 Turkey participated in IV. World Conference on Women, which was organized in Beijing and to which 189 countries participated, and became signatory to this conference without reservations.

November 1995 The first Multi Purpose Community Center which was planned by Southeast Anatolia Project Development Department  to improve the status of women in the region and to ensure the integration thereof to the  development process was opened in Urfa. Number of the  centers in the region reached 21 as of 2002.

1996 National action plan was prepared with the participation of public organizations and institutions, universities,  voluntary women’s organizations, political parties, trade unions, professional organizations within the framework of the action plan and commitments accepted by the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women in 4^th World Conference for Women.

1996 The first M.A. diploma on Women’s Studies was issued by the Department of Women’s Studies in Istanbul University.

1996 Commissions were established on education, health, law and employment, the four areas at which women’s issues are more common, with the participation of voluntary women’s organizations under the coordination of Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women as per the commitments in 4^th World Conference for Women.

June 29, 1996 Constitutional Court annulled article 441 of Turkish Criminal Law which stipulated the adultery of men as a crime on the grounds of  breach  of equality principle of the Constitution. Adultery of men was ceased to be considered as a crime as of 27.12.1997 Due to the failure in the execution of legal regulations within a period of one year which was stipulated by the decision published in Official Gazette no. 228600, dated 27.12.1996.

1996 Department for Women in Rural Agriculture was established under the body of Ministry of Agriculture.

1997 “Women’s Status Units” were established within the Governor’s Offices in 13 provinces under the coordination of Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women.

22 May 1997 Women were granted the right to maintain their maiden name along with the name of their spouse as per the amendment in Article 153 of Civil Law.

19.11.1997 Declaration of the civil status, entailing the descriptive phrases of “married/single/widowed/divorced” in officially issued identity cards has also been changed with a notice published by the Ministry of Interior upon the proposal of  Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women and limited to the statement of “married” or “single” as applicable.

August 18, 1997 Law no. 4306 stipulating the increase of the compulsory education period from five to eight years was enacted.

November 13-14, 1997 The Fourth European Ministerial Conference for the Equality between Men and Women, which aims to encourage full participation of the expert ministers to the activities of European Council on related fields was hosted by Republic of Turkey. 38 out of 40 member countries of European Council  participated in the conference which was organized in Istanbul by the Director General of Women’s Status and  Problems. A declaration that shall guide the equality policies of member states was prepared as an outcome of the conference to which 176 people attended.

June 23, 1998 Article 440 of the Turkish Criminal Law  regulating the adultery of women as a crime was annulled by the Constitutional Court on the grounds of the fact that it is in breach with the constitutional principle of equality. The justified decree was published in Official Gazette dated 13.03.1999, no. 23638.

February 17, 1998 Turkish Civil Law draft prepared by the Ministry of Justice to replace Turkish Civil Law no. 743 was publicized with a meeting organized  jointly by the Ministry of Justice and the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women.

October 21, 1998 A circular stipulating that  virginity control can only be made upon the consent of the victim in the event of an offence of which investigation shall be subject to a complaint to be filed and upon written consent of the Public Prosecutor in the event of an indictable offence  provided that  the delay thereof shall be deemed as unfavorable with the decision of the lawyer  was published by Ministry of Justice as an outcome of the agenda created by the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women and women’s organizations.

1998 The use of expressions such as “spouse, daughter, son, father, mother” instead of the expressions such as “widow woman etc.” in “Relation with the Retired”  section in ID cards of Widows and Orphans  issued by the General Directorate of Retirement Fund  was provided  in line with the regulations on ID cards by Ministry of Interior.

1998 A Research Committee was established in the Turkish Grand National Assembly to assess the status of women in Turkey within the framework of CEDAW and a report was published as a book by the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women.

January 17,  1998 Law on Family Protection no. 4320, which regulates the measures required for the protection of those exposed to domestic violence, was enacted.

1998 The provision on issuance of the declaration by the family head was annulled with an amendment in the Law on Income Tax and issuance of an individual declaration by the women apart from their husbands was stipulated.

1998 Women’s Advisory Center was established by the Ankara Bar Women’s Law Commission under the body of Ankara Court House in order to deliver consultancy and psychological support services for women exposed to violence.

1999 Istanbul Bar Women’s Law Commission established Women’s  Rights Exercise Center.

March 20, 1999 “Turkish Bar Association Women’s Rights Commissions Network (TUBAKKOM)” was established to ensure the coordination between the Women’s Rights/ Law Commissions under bars. Number of the increasing commissions reached approximately forty by 2001. There are two institutionalized  Women’s Advisory Centers under TUBAKKOM and various commissions deliver consultancy services.

September 1999 Turkey withdrew its reservations placed on Article 15 and 16 on family law in signing CEDAW.

1999 Civil Law draft that covers significant modifications in terms of gender equality was prepared and presented to the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

December 16, 1999 A conference on “How functional is the Equality Ombudsman? A Norwegian Experience” was organized with the cooperation of Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women and Norwegian Embassy within the framework of the activities to create the organizational mechanisms that shall eliminate discrimination against women.

May 14 – June 14 2000 Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women organized nearly 200 activities including panels, conferences, fairs, exhibitions etc. under the name of “Women’s Meetings for the year 2000”  in cooperation with the governor’s offices, bars, universities and voluntary women’s organizations in order to bring the women’s problems to the agenda and to make sure that all women from different regions have fully participated in the discussions.

March 01 ,2000 After the consultations of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Constitutional Commission on the proposal for the establishment of a “Permanent Commission for the Equality between Men and Women” under Turkish Grand  National Assembly within the framework of the study carried out by the DGSPW, the establishment of “Monitoring Committee for the Equality between Men and Women” was agreed upon instead of  the proposed Commission. Establishment of the Committee waits for the completion of the amendments in the bylaws of Turkish Grand National Assembly.

May 16, 2000 Panel on “The Constitution of Turkish Republic and the Equality Policies in EU Accession Process” was organized by the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women to assess the Constitution in terms of social gender equality in EU accession process in collaboration with the  Istanbul Bar Women’s Rights Commission.

June 5-9, 2000 Turkey attended United Nations General Assembly Special Session “Women 2000: Social Equality, Development and Peace for 21st Century” held in New York to assess the results of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, ensure the complete implementation thereof and to define new actions. Proposals on gender mainstreaming, improvement of positive discrimination policies through quotas and other tools, violence against women including the early and forced marriages as well as honor killings and proposals on other major issues were also covered in the Conclusion Document.

September 8, 2000 Turkey signed the Optional Protocol and it was put in the agenda of Turkish Grand National Assembly for ratification. Individuals and groups are entitled to make application and furthermore to accept and review the complaints made to Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Committee to supervise the implementations in case of the contracting parties acting in breach with the Convention as per the Optional Protocol prepared by the United Nations in order to ensure more effective exercise of  Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

October 26, 2000 Panel on “Sexist Components in Educational Materials” and photography exhibition titled “Sexism in Course Books since 1928” were organized by the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women in line with the objective to eliminate the sexist components in course books and curriculums starting from the first step of the education which are emphasized as a necessity of a social life based on equality in the international conventions and conferences for women. Furthermore, Book titled “Sexist components in  education materials” compiling the documents related with the meeting and a research “Sexism in Course Books” were published.

November 24, 2000 Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women organized a panel titled “Violence against Women” in cooperation with  Governor’s Office of Urfa with the occasion of “November, 25 Day to Say No to Violence Against Women” aiming at creation of public opinion against honor killings which are gradually increasing in our country. The panel constituted a ground of posture against honor killings at official level.

February 17, 2001 Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women and women’s organizations carried out activities to create a public opinion for the maintenance and legalization of the equality essence of the Civil Law Draft discussed in Turkish Grand National Assembly Commission of Justice due to the anniversary of Turkish Civil Law. A panel titled “75^th Anniversary of Turkish Civil Law 2001 agenda: Legalization of the Draft” where  the amendments stipulated with the draft  was organized by  Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women.

Protest March named “together for Civil Law Draft” was organized with the participation of women’s associations and other NGOs.

April 2001 The  proposal for the supplementation of a sub-paragraph in Article 10 of the Constitution which regulates the principle of equality to develop an infrastructure for the equality policies, to ensure the compliance of all plans and policies developed with the article and to lead path for all kinds of measures including positive discrimination to be taken by the state to ensure equality; enactment of organization law for Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women which is a national mechanism; legalization of the bill that shall annul various regulations on birth leaves  of the employees according to different status law and shall stipulate parent leave as well as long and short term objectives stipulating cooperation and collaboration on all related issues was covered in Turkey’s National Report on Adoptation of EU Acquis Communitaire with the efforts of the State Ministry responsible for Women and Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women.

May 16, 2001 The Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women organized a conference titled “Holland Experience in Gender Mainstreaming” where the experiences of Netherlands Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, Secretary of State were  shared to provide information on the examples of countries adopting the gender mainstreaming strategy.

June 21, 2001 Turkish Civil Law Draft, which was adopted by the  Parliamentary Commission of Justice, was submitted to the General Assembly.

June 27-29, 2001 Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women organized a meeting on “Women Policies and Institutionalization in Turkey”  in Ankara with the contributions of the Norwegian Embassy. Representatives of related public organizations, Women’s Research and Implementation Centers of the universities and voluntary women’s organizations attended the meeting. Working groups were formed on law, education, labor and violence, and targets of the following period were identified in the meeting.

November 22, 2001 New Turkish Criminal Law was ratified by Turkish Grand National Assembly

January 1, 2002 New Turkish Civil Law was enforced

July 30, 2002 Approval of Optional Protocol to CEDAW