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FOLLOWING THE TRACES OF THE UNION OF TURKISH WOMEN
DELEGATES TO THE 1935 CONGRESS
Aslı DAVAZ *
In September 1927, when Nezihe Muhiddin the President of the Union of Turkish Women
(TKB/Türk Kadın Birliği) has been removed from duty, the Presidency of the Union which had been
founded on 7 February 1924, passed to Lâtife Bekir, who then served in this position from 1927 –
1935. During this period Nezihe Muhiddin's earlier efforts to develop the relationships with the
International Alliance of Woman for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship (IWSA/ International Alliance)
advanced and it was decided that the IWSA would hold its 12 th Congress in Istanbul. The International
Alliance had been formally established in 1904, following the drawing‐up of the Founding Declaration
during the Conference held in Washington DC in 1902, and from 1904 ‐ 1907 directed its efforts
towards women's suffrage campaigns. The Alliance held conferences in Berlin in 1904 and in
Copenhagen in 1906. Campaigns directed towards women's suffrage advanced considerably
between 1908 – 1910, with a congress held in Amsterdam in 1908, and another in London in 1909.
From 1911 – 1914, two well known activists of the The Alliance Carrie Chapman Catt and Aletta
Jacobs embarked on a global tour aimed at increasing the numbers of the Alliance member states;
this journey brought them into contact with women from the Middle and Far East. The Alliance also
continued to hold congresses during this period, one in Stockholm in 1911 and in Budapest in 1913.
During the 1914‐1918 First World War period, the Alliance members turned their efforts towards the
securement of peace, and organized a Peace Conference that was held in 1919. After having
suspended their own congresses during this period, by 1920 the Alliance had regrouped and met
again at a congress in Geneva. During the ensuing years the Alliance again directed its efforts
towards securing political rights. Following the 1923 Congress in Rome and the 1926 Congress in
Paris, the International Alliance celebrated its 25 th anniversary with a Jubilee Congress held in 1929 in
Berlin. From 1930 – 1935 the Alliance member states directed their activities towards peace and
disarmament. While the Great Depression that spanned the years 1930 – 1935 led some to doubt
the meaningfulness of their continued efforts, the 12 th Congress held in Istanbul in 1935 reaffirmed
the vitality of the Alliance. 1
The Board Members of the Union of Turkish Women's, led by Lâtife Bekir, selected 24 delegates
(12 full and 12 alternate members) to represent them at the 12 th Congress. Turkey thus has ranked
with the most delegates permitted by the Alliance Constitution. Ten of the eleven members of the
Board served as delegates, the only exception being Vecihe Ziya. The full member delegates from the
Board Members were Lâtife Bekir, Lâmia Refik, Seniha Rauf and Necile Tevfik, while Efzayiş Suat,
Nermin Muvaffak, Dr. Pakize İzzet, Mihri Hüseyin, Safiye Hüseyin, Leman Fuat, Faika Nahit and
Nebahat Hamit were full delegates, but not from the Board. The alternate delegates who were also
on the Board were Piraye Tor, Saadet Refet, Ayşe Remzi, Madiha Fethi, Aliye Halit and Aliye Esad,
while Arayiş Hüseyin, Hasene Ilgaz, Belkıs Halim, Seniye Cenanî, Zekâvet Zâti and Emine Saffet were
alternates who were not Board members. The 14 full and alternate members who were not from the
Board were selected from among those women who had close ties to the Union Board Members and
who could best represent the organization. This generation, along with the Board Members and
members of the Alliance themselves, were all suffragists who had been born during this same time
period. They were all united in their struggle towards a common goal, even if the ways and methods
they used to achieve the right to vote and to be elected may have differed from one another in kind.
*
The Women's Library and Information Center Foundation - Istanbul, Turkey