This is part 2 of an interview with feminist leader and professor Gulhan Balsoy.

Turkey has recently been plagued by a series of protests, after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan announced that his government and party– the AKP Party– would push through a bill that would ban abortion after the first 4-6 weeks of pregnancy; this is a significant limitation from the original ten weeks that has been allowed in Turkey since 1983.

One woman and feminist, Gulhan Balsoy, a professor and historian of reproductive rights in the mid to late nineteenth century, spoke to Toonari Post about this ban, as well as the movement that has emerged to reject it.

Several protests have already occurred on June 3 and June 8, but the largest one yet happened June 17. These protests have occurred across the country and have been coordinated between the largest cities including Ankara (the capital), Eskisehir, and Istanbul. Balsoy stated, “Many young and old women were in the protests,” and these women were not only from feminist groups, but they were average Turkish citizens as well.

A protest was also arranged by a male group for women’s rights, called Irritated Men, although they protested independently of the other feminist groups. Balsoy discussed Irritated Men saying, “It is good to see some men support as well.”

According to Balsoy, the first protest resulted in police violence against the protesters, and several women being taken into custody. Since then the protests have grown in size and have been peaceful.

Balsoy, like many other women in Turkey, feels that there is no reasonable debate, stating, “Women haven’t seen any real ethical discussion.” She pointed out that the comments from government officials have been inflammatory at best and insulting at worst. The Health Minister Recep Akdag claimed that if a woman is raped and she does not want the child the government will take care of the child. Another example she gave was the comments of Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek who stated that if a woman is raped the child should not be aborted but the woman herself should be killed. Balsoy calmly stated, “We are offended, actually.” Many women can understand why.

Balsoy explains that there are so many different policies that the government could support to increase the population that would not involve banning abortion. She suggested that the government start by providing more funding for programs such as day care centers. She also added that the abortion rates in the country have been falling since 2008.

Balsoy has stated that the AKP Party has enough chairs in Parliament to pass the law. In fact, the Parliament’s summer break start date has been pushed back to July 19 which Balsoy believes may be so that the government can push through the law as the last act of this session. The main opposition party is not saying a lot about the issue. “They [the opposition party] act like nothing is happening. They are pretty much indifferent to the protest,” Balsoy stated. There are some members of government who are opposing the law, some even within the AKP Party, but not enough. Balsoy stated, “[The law passing] is the the worst scenario I can imagine right now.”

Balsoy stated that even if the law is passed the protests will continue and abortions will also probably continue,“Throughout all of human history women have had abortions.”

The ban has not gained much popular support. Only some conservatives are supporting the government, but weakly, and Balsoy claims that “people who support the government’s position are not bringing something new to the conversation.” As Balsoy pointed out, even if a woman is a conservative that does not mean that she will want to be only a mother her whole life. One Turkish newspaper, HaberTurk, reported that 55.5 percent of Turkish citizens oppose the law. Balsoy also claims that the popularity of the AKP Party is falling and that Erdogan has already announced that he will not be running for reelection.

Recently the protest groups have filed a petition with the government with 55,000 signatures and support from 900 organizations that are against the abortion ban.

According to Balsoy Health Minister Akdag has been talking about finding a middle ground. “[He says that] if a baby is going to have a health problem there could be an abortion. But this could be a problem too because people could know they are going to have a handicap child and still want to keep the child.”

Balsoy wants to make clear the message that the Turkish citizens and feminists are trying to get across. “Feminists think that abortion is a right and we are not negotiating this right with anybody… this is our right. It’s about our right to live and to make choices about our lives.”

Image Courtesy of  Gulhan Balsoy

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Turkey has recently been plagued by a series of protests after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan announced that his government and party– the AKP Party– would push through a bill that would ban abortion after the first 4-6 weeks of pregnancy. This is a significant limitation from the original ten weeks that has been allowed in Turkey since 1983.

One woman and feminist, Gulhan Balsoy, a professor and historian of reproductive rights in the mid to late nineteenth century, spoke to Toonari Post about this ban, as well as the movement that has emerged to reject it.

Professor Balsoy explained that the debate about women’s rights and abortion rights began three years ago, when Prime Minister Erdogan declared that women should have at least three children; he later changed this number to more than three. Balsoy claimed that women protested because they did not want to be viewed as only mothers and wanted to have control over their bodies. Balsoy also stated that the protests were caused because “Prime Minister Erdogan has said several times that he does not believe in the equality of men and women.”

In addition to these women’s rights violations, Balsoy pointed out that the mandatory education of girls in Turkey is eight years, but with many questioning the policies and enforcement within Turkey. Some girls are only receiving four years, especially in the remote regions of Turkey.

Women across Turkey have also engaged in a photography campaign that advertises the sentiment “My body belongs to me.” The campaign, which features women– and men– supporting their partners, tells the government that their body is theirs and that the government cannot interfere with it.

“He wants to see women as mothers, just raising their children at home… even many conservatives do not accept that position,” Balsoy claimed. She later stated, “None of those men [from the AKP Party] have thought about abortion for a second.”

Erdogan wants to ban abortions and c-sections, in order to generate a larger population in Turkey that will propel the country into the top economies in the world. However, Balsoy challenges Erdogan’s claims about the shrinking population in Turkey stating, “His claims cannot be supported by numbers.” Although Erdogan has claimed that Turkey’s population is shrinking, the rate of growth is what has been shrinking, according to Balsoy.

Balsoy stated that previous to Erdogan’s announcement, women wanted the deadline for abortion to actually be extended to twelve weeks, so there was much outrage when Erdogan’s proposal limited it to four.

Erdogan is also trying to punish the use of c-sections because women who elect to have a c-section are usually only able to have two children. Balsoy admits that c-sections are happening more and more seemingly more than normal births; however, she also stated, “The government should not tell us how to give birth to our children.”

Instead, Balsoy believes that there are other policies and methods that the government could use to encourage natural births. Prior to the announcements from Erdogan, midwives in Turkey protested because they wanted normal births to be promoted. Instead of helping the midwives and listening to the ideas they had for promoting normal births, the government ignored their protests, according to Balsoy.

Image Courtesy of  Gülhan Balsoy

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The past Sunday saw even more protests in Turkey after the government insisted on a bill that would outlaw abortions only four weeks after conception, a time when many women are still unsure if they are pregnant. The law may also restrict the ability for women to elect for a Caesarian operation when giving birth. Unlike previous protests earlier in June, this protest was a response to the bill from mostly men and was held in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul.

A survey published in the Turkish newspaper HaberTurk showed that 55.5% of those interviewed about the ban were against the newly proposed law. Although the majority seem to oppose the creation of the law Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is still trying to push it through. His party, AKP Party, has at least fifty percent of the votes in the parliament after the most recent parliamentary election in June of 2011.

Previously women have displayed their distaste of the proposed law with large protests. One woman stated, “we are here today because we are against this law that’s forbidding abortion because abortion is a woman’s right and this is not about abortion being a bad thing or anything. It’s about government wants woman to be only wife and mother and we are against it. We are individuals, we have rights.”

Erdogan opposes abortion and c-sections for several reasons. Erdogan is a moral and religious conservative and believes that abortion is murder. Additionally Erdogan believes that c-sections, which can limit how many children a woman can have, and abortions are conspiracies against the demographic growth in Turkey. In order to ensure Turkey’s future as one of the top economies in the world Erdogan wants the population to grow quickly. He also wants the Turkish population to grow faster than the Kurdish, which is currently not happening.

The new group protesting the ban is a group of men called “Irritated Men,” formed in 2008 in response to violence against women. The group gathered in Istanbul on 5 June 2012 to talk about the anti-abortion bill.

After comments made by the mayor of Ankara, “Irritated Men” decided something needed to be done. The Ankara mayor Melih Gökçek said “women kill their babies born out of adultery. Why do babies die because of these so-called mothers? Let mothers kill themselves.”

Orhan Cerav, the spokesman for the group, stated, “our agenda, up until a week ago was the murder of women, now we’re talking about an abortion ban.” The group also recognizes the need for male support. Cerav told Hürriyet Daily News: “public opposition by a male front is badly needed. That’s why we gathered. It’s not just women; men are also irritated by the government’s anti-abortion campaign, but we also should show it.”

The group “Irritated Men” was supposedly formed after the rape and murder of Italian artist Pippa Bacca. Bacca was hitchhiking to the Middle East from Europe in a wedding dress to promote world peace when she went missing in Turkey and was later found dead.

Image Courtesy homeros / Shutterstock.com

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Around 3000 women marched in Kadikoy Square in Ankara, Turkey June 3 2012 after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan announced that members of his party, the AK Party, are drafting an anti-abortion bill. Some women were accompanied by husbands, boyfriends, and fathers. Many individuals held signs that held statements such as “my body, my choice” and “I am a woman not a mother, don’t touch my body.”

The protests were prompted after Erdogan delivered several speeches in which he called abortion “murder” and claimed that abortion and caesarean births are plots to halt Turkey’s economic growth.

Abortion of a fetus up to ten weeks after conception has been legal since 1983. This new law would require that women would only be able to get an abortion up to four weeks after conception except for emergencies.

Health Minister Recep Akdag is also planning to penalize hospitals that allow for women to get elective caesarean sections because, as he claims, it is “unnatural.” C-sections can also limit the number of children a woman can have to two, which is too little in the government’s opinion.

Caesarean birth rates are high in Turkey with forty percent of live births in 2009 being born by c-section. However, their abortion rates are already significantly lower than the rest of the world’s. In Turkey there are 14.8 abortions for every 1000 women whereas the UN world average is 28 abortions per 1000 women and 27 abortions per 1000 women in Europe.

Akdag has also stated that the government is willing to look after the babies of rape victims if necessary, but later clarified that they would not deny rape victims the right to an abortion.

According to Fusun Sirkeci, a London-based obstetrician and gynecologist, most women do not know they are pregnant until after the first four weeks of conception. Sirkeci also warns that limiting abortions may force “some women to terminate themselves which could potentially be fatal or disabling.”

Erdogan’s motivation is not only because he is a social and religious conservative. The prime minister wants to make Turkey’s economy enter the world’s top ten by 2023, but in order to do this he wants the population to grow at a faster rate. Erdogan has advocated for Turkish families having at least three children and has even pushed for five at times.

Erdogan is also trying to increase the Turkish population because of the high birth rate of the Kurds in southeast Turkey. The Kurds have been trying to break away from Turkey and form their own autonomous government. Deniz Ulke Aribogan, a professor at Bilgi University in Istanbul, claims “the problem is the rapid rise of population in eastern regions, while it has almost come to a standstill in western regions.”

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Turkey has proposed its new vision for a new system in the Middle East based on an alliance with Egypt, at a time when the Arab Spring continues to stir revolutions and popular uprisings against various rulers of the region.

According to The Washington Post, this proposition was presented by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davut Oglu. Oglu’s proposal came after weeks of deteriorating and strained relations with both Syria and Israel, and following Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest visit to various Arab countries including Egypt.

Oglu accompanied Ardugan alongside 280 Turkish business men to Egypt and he stated that over $1 Billion were signed in contracts in one day. Turkey holds Israel responsible for the collapse of the relations between both states because of its refusal to apologize to the Turkish government and people, as well as compensating for the victims of the Gaza flotilla incident.

Oglu also accused Syrian President Bashar Al Assad of being dishonest after Turkish officials gave the latter a final chance to save his regime by ceasing the unjust and violent suppression of Syrian protestors demanding change, which has not stopped.

Oglu is seen as the architect of successful Turkish foreign policies in the Middle East in which Turkey has emerged as both a credible and imperative player with the Islamic world in the turbulent region.

This alliance is proposed on the basis that both countries possess two of the most powerful armies in the region, are of the most populated, and able to exert a considerable amount of influence; in a time where Oglu explained that the US’ control of the Middle East is decreasing steadily.

“This will not be an axis against any other country – not Israel, not Iran, not any other country, but this will be an axis of democracy, real democracy, this will be an axis of democracy of the two biggest nations in our region, from the north to the south, from the Black Sea down to the Nile Valley in Sudan,” he added.

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