CHANGING ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF WOMAN IN POLITICS IN SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIA

Abstract

This thesis is aimed at investigating the importance of Kurdish women’s place and role in politics. The political activeness of Kurdish women, which became an important part of the reviving Kurdish political movement during the Republic period – in particular during the 1970s – has become more pronounced since 1980. Within the framework of these developments, the reasons and factors, which have changed Kurdish women, shaped their role and built a new identity for them, as well as the contribution of those women to the reformation, revival and development of their nation, will be investigated in this thesis. This thesis will assess women’s contribution to the Kurdish political movement while exploring the way women have changed and the new dimensions of relationships between individuals in the Kurdish community, by bringing clarification to the social development, change and the current status of Kurdish women.