Gülkız Ürbül (1901–1990) was a Turkish woman who became the first female
muhtar (
village chief) in Turkey in 1933. She later on changed her name to Gül Esin Aydın.
Background
Up to 1930, women had no political rights in Turkey. Beginning in 1930, they gained suffrage in local elections by Act no. 1580, dated 3 April 1930. Three years later, by Act no. 2349, dated 26 October 1933, the eligibility for the post of
muhtar was also included in suffrage.
Two weeks later, Ürbül was elected the muhtar in Demircidere village of the
Çine ilçe (district) in
Aydın Province, marking the first time a woman was elected a political office in Turkey. (The village of Demircidere was later declared a district named
Karpuzlu.)
Election and service term
In the 1930s, Gülkız Ürbül was one of the few literate village women in Turkey. During the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and
Turkish War of Independence
, strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...
, she had lost her husband and five of her six brothers. In the election campaign, she ran against seven male candidates and won the muhtar election. During her short term, she initiated the construction of a road between her village and Çine and founded a cooperative to build a village room. She also banned gambling.
Feedbacks
After the election, Mehmet Ali Bey, the governor of Çine, said that the district was proud to be the pioneer in having the first female muhtar in Turkey.
Recep Peker, the secretary-general of the
Republican People's Party
The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...
(and later
prime minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
from 1946 to 1947), sent a
telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...
and congratulated Ürbül on becoming the first Turkish female muhtar and
political officeholder.
Death and legacy
Ürbül spent the last 20 years of her life in the
Nazilli district of Aydın Province, where she died on the 18 December 1990. In 2011, the municipality of Aydın erected a
bust of Gülkız.
Haberciniz news page
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See also
* Women in Turkish politics
* Müfide İlhan
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urbul, Gulkiz
1901 births
1990 deaths
Karpuzlu District
People from Aydın Province
Local politicians in Turkey
20th-century Turkish women politicians
First women mayors