Women in Turkey

Thousands bid farewell on Feb. 14 to Özgecan Aslan, a 20-year-old woman who was murdered during a rape attempt, in a funeral ceremony held in her hometown Mersin.

Although the imam requested women to step back during the ceremony, hundreds of women attended the funeral prayer on the front lines, while they also carried he coffin of Aslan before and after the prayer. 

The burned body of a 20-year-old female student who had been missing for two days was discovered Feb. 13 in a riverbed near Tarsus district of the southern province of Mersin. 

Three suspects have been detained for stabbing Özgecan Aslan to death and later burning her remains.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Vice Chairman Sezgin Tanr?kulu has said women lack representation at the Constitutional Court, following the retirement of the sole female at the court due to a restriction on age.

Tanr?kulu also stated that women lack representatives in all fields of life under the current Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu, before he participated in the ?unity against terror? event in Paris together with world leaders, the biggest France has seen in its history, announced a significant program concerning women.

A new global report has again put Turkey near the bottom of gender equality rankings, yet women maintain a prominent presence in academia that mirrors the situation in Western countries, according to an academic at Sabancı University.

I missed a lot of good laughter while I was in China. I was on a train from Shang Hai to Beijing when I read that Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç had stated women should not laugh in public.