Imagine having to wait almost a year until you remarry. This was the case in Turkey until the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled on June 27 that the 300-day waiting period violated Article 8 (the right to respect for private life) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination), in conjunction with Article 12 (the right to marry) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). This waiting period requirement, which dates back to the Ottoman-era Islamic sharia legislation and is codified in Article 132 of the Turkish Civil Code, is known as “iddet,” and was originally imposed to avoid paternal filiation disputes. Men do not have this same waiting period. The period can be dismissed if the woman agrees to undergo a medical examination to prove she is not pregnant or if she remarries her ex-husband. The period also ends if a woman gives birth. This, according to the recent ECtHR ruling, “did not serve any pressing social need, was not proportionate to the legitimate aims pursued, and was not justified on sufficient and relevant grounds.” The ruling also deemed it not “necessary” nor “objectively justified” in a democratic society and said that it “constituted a form of direct sex-based discrimination.” Habibe Yılmaz Kayar, founding lawyer of the Center for Legal Support to Women who represented the applicant in the ECtHR case, said the decision was a big step in protecting the rights of divorced women and ensuring gender equality in Turkey. Independent lawyer Özgecan Sırma, who declared the existence of the provision within Turkey’s legal framework a “legal oddity,” said that although the ECtHR decision was a “positive development,” it came “too late” — and with damage to the country’s international reputation. Since this is a preliminary decision, all sides involved have three months to request a final decision. A final judgment by the European Court of Human Rights is legally binding on the respondent State. Nuray Karaoğlu, president of KA.DER, an organization that supports the equal representation of women in all areas, felt the decision “was a turning point” and that its “implementation would eliminate discriminatory practices based on the restriction of women’s freedom of marriage and strengthen gender equality in society.” The Justice and Development Party (AKP) has taken a number of controversial stances against gender equality in recent years. The ruling party has proposed limiting abortion rights, the morning-after pill, and cesarean sections. While pregnancy terminations are still legal in Turkey until the 10th week of pregnancy and up to the 20th in cases of medical risk, finding hospitals to carry out the procedure has become practically impossible. In 2014, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused feminists of not understanding motherhood. Speaking at a summit in Istanbul, he reportedly said, “Some people can understand this, while others can’t. You cannot explain this to feminists because they don’t accept the concept of motherhood.” He has also said that gender equality was “against human nature” and that working women were “deficient.” Most recently, in January 2023, Turkey’s state religious body, which has targeted women in the past, said that women cannot travel alone. In the run-up to the election, the AKP and its leader made alliances with numerous parties looking to dismantle women’s rights in the country, including lifting Law 6284, which protects women against domestic violence. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Gender Gap Index Report, Turkey ranked 124th among the 146 countries researched. Although the country has made strides since 2021, when the country was ranked 133rd, there has been an overall decline since 2006, when Turkey was ranked 105th. With general elections now over, the prospect of change when it comes to women’s rights is not looking promising. According to Gizem Gül Kurekçi, a member of SOL Parti (Left Party) and its Left Feminist Movement, difficult times await women in Turkey. In an interview with Aposto, an online news platform, Kurekçi said that challenges abound on issues ranging from alimony rights and early marriage to attempts to exclude women from workplaces. The newly formed right-wing government “will try to erase women,” Kurekçi told the newspaper. Out of 17 ministerial positions in that government, only one is held by a woman, and she heads the Family and Social Services Ministry. Out of 600 members of the newly formed parliament, only 121 are women. Women in Turkey, according to the most recent state statistics, already lag behind men when it comes to employment opportunities.