Turkish Civil Code and CEDAW: Never Shall the Twain Meet?

Öz

Although Turkey became a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1986, it originally included very extensive reservations, most of which arose from the former Turkish Civil Code’s (fTCC) incompatibility with CEDAW. However, in 1999, Turkey withdrew a substantial portion of its reservations due to revisions to the Turkish Civil Code. Nevertheless, regrettably, even today it cannot be said that the new Turkish Civil Code is entirely compatible with CEDAW. This paper firstly aims to explore these incompatibilities between CEDAW and the Turkish Civil Code by analysing changes to the Code in comparison with related Articles of CEDAW. The paper will then recommend what should be done in order to make the Turkish Civil Code (TCC) completely compatible with CEDAW with de lege feranda suggestions.

Keywords: Turkish Civil Code, CEDAW, reservations, gender equality, family law.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Turkish Civil Code, CEDAW, reservations, gender equality, family law

Öz

Her ne kadar Türkiye 1986 yılında Kadınlara Karşı Her Biçimiyle Ayrımcılığın Ortadan Kaldırılması Sözleşmesi’ne (CEDAW) taraf olmuşsa da, Türk Medeni Kanunu’nun CEDAW ile uyumsuzluğu sebebiyle anlaşmaya oldukça geniş çekinceler koymuştur. Türkiye 1999 yılında Medeni Kanun’da yapmayı düşündüğü ve hali hazırda yaptığı değişiklikler ışığında CEDAW’ a koyduğu çekincelerin önemli bir kısmını kaldırmıştır. Maalesef bugün dahi, Türk Medeni Kanunu’nun CEDAW ile tam olarak uyumlu olduğunu söylemek mümkün değildir. Bu bağlamda, çalışma ile ilk olarak amaçlanan CEDAW ve Türk Medeni Kanunu arasındaki uyumsuzlukları incelemektir. Bu amaçla çalışma içerisinde Türk Medeni Kanunu’nun CEDAW ile uyumlu kılınması adına yapılan değişiklikler ilgili CEDAW hükümleriyle karşılaştırmalı olarak incelenecektir. Son olarak Türk Medeni Kanunu’nun CEDAW ile tamamen uyumlu olabilmesi için yapılması gereken değişikliklere dair de lege feranda öneriler ortaya koyulacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Türk Medeni Kanunu, CEDAW, çekinceler, cinsiyet eşitliği, aile hukuku

Kaynakça

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