Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

is a predominantly Muslim nation that has abolished

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...

, which was officially criminalized with the adoption of the

Turkish Civil Code Turkish civil code ( tr, Türk Medeni Kanunu) is one of the earliest laws in the history of Turkey within the scope of Turkish reforms. Background During the Ottoman Empire, the legal system of Turkey was Sharia like other Muslim countries. A co ...

in 1926, a milestone in Atatürk's secularist reforms. Penalties for illegal

are up to 2 years imprisonment. Turkey has long been known for its promotion of

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

and later introduced even stricter bars on polygamy. Even the ruling moderate AK Parti effectively banned polygamists from entering or living in the country. Smyrne Group of Gypsy

Although illegal polygamy is very rare in Turkish society, the practice still exists in the Kurdish populated South East.

References

See also