sempozyum_bildiri_kitabi

Union of Turkish Women at the 1931 International Alliance's meeting for peace in Belgrade and at
the Marseilles Conference in 1933. She also participated in the preparatory work for the 2 nd Balkan
Conference held in Istanbul in 1931 and she represented Turkey on the International Alliance's
Commission for Peace and League of Nations. Born in 1892, six years after Seniha Rauf, Lâmia Refik,
was one of the first 18 women to graduate from the Inas Darülfünunu, where she majored in
literature. During Lâtife Bekir's tenure of chairwoman, Lâmia Refik served for many long years as the
organization's deputy chairwoman. While her serious demeanor may have made her appear to be
older than Lâmia Refik, Lâtife Bekir was actually seven years younger, having been born in 1889 in
Istanbul. After beginning her professional career as a teacher, Lâtife Bekir served as an MP from Izmir
and as a member of that city's council. She joined Seniha Rauf and Lâmia Refik in undertaking the
preliminary work for the 1935 Congress, where she served as a full delegate. She also represented
Turkey on the International Alliance's Commission for Equal Conditions of Work between Men and
Women. We do not know the birth year of Efzayiş Yusuf, who was also known as Efzayiş Suat. In
accordance with certain data, it is believed that she was born in 1889, three years after Seniha Rauf.
A teacher of German and an author, Efzayiş Suat represented the TKB at the 11 th Congress of the
International Alliance held in Berlin in June of 1929. While, despite the fact that she had played an
active role in international relations during the TKB chair period, the name of Lâtife Bekir is only
mentioned in the Jus Suffragi (the news organ for the International Alliance) in a news story about
the Istanbul Congress. Lâmia Refik, Seniha Rauf and Efzayiş Suat had frequently represented the TKB
abroad and had had the opportunity to meet with some of the world renowned suffragists who were
at the forefront of Europe's struggle for women's suffrage rights. While Lâtife Bekir and Lâmia Hanım
primarily engaged in organizational work in international relations and meetings, many of the
speeches and writings of Seniha Rauf and Efzayiş Suat had been published on several occasions, both
in Jus Suffragii and in La Française. Because she was fluent in several languages, Necile Tevfik was
easily able to form relationships with the international women's movement and saw her writings
published in Jus Suffragii, La Française and Le Droit des Femmes. She was also the only TKB member
to have her writings published in L’Egyptienne the monthly journal of the Egyptian Feminist Union,
which ranked as one of the most important women's periodical for the Middle Eastern women's
movement. This was not due to the interest shown by the TKB in the Middle East or in the Egyptian
women's movement, but rather from the affinity felt by Huda Shaarawi and Egyptian women to the
rights obtained by the women of a Muslim country such as Turkey. With their broad culture and with
the fact that they had fluency in foreign languages, these women with their skills could have lead the
TKB to a more active position on the international women's movement platform. Despite these
positives, we must recognize that the TKB failed to exhibit an active stance. Still, we should not forget
that while many women's organizations on the international scene had been active for 40 or 50
years, TKB had been officially accepted as a member in 1926 at the Paris Congress and was only five
years old when it was represented in 1929 Berlin Congress by Efzayiş Suat.
Even though her education, cultural accumulation, and knowledge of foreign languages surpassed
those of Seniha Rauf, Lâmia Refik and Efzayiş Suat, Necile Tevfik, who was born in Istanbul in 1911,
did not participate in as many international assignments as the others. The reason for this may lie in
the fact that Necile Tevfik, who had better writing skills, was assigned the task of writing articles for
the TKB. Actually, Necile Tevfik, who worked many long years as a journalist, was primarily interested
in writing fiction and stage plays. Participating as an active member in the 1935 Congress, Tevfik,
along with Nermin Muvaffak and Josephine Schain, the press secretary for the International Alliance,
began their media efforts months before the Congress began. Nermin Muvaffak, who was born in
Istanbul in 1910, was a literary critique, a painter, and a pianist. If the TKB had followed a decisive
and sustained international relation policiy, they could have better benefited from Nermin Muvaffak,
who lived abroad for many years and who was very sympathetic to the aims of the Alliance. The