The Women's Union of Turkmenistan (TZB; ) is a mass women's organisation in

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

. For a long time, Women's Union was the only women organization permitted in the country. Advocating for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

, this organization appeared as a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

, but in reality, Women's Union was closely linked and controlled by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. Until the death of the first

president of Turkmenistan The president of Turkmenistan ( tk, Türkmenistanyň prezidenti), officially the president and chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, is the head of state and head of government of Turkmenistan. The president is also the supreme c ...

Saparmurat Niyazov Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov; tk, Saparmyrat Ataýewiç Nyýazow, in Cyrillic: Сапармырат Атаевич Ныязов (19 February 1940 – 21 December 2006), also known as Turkmenbashi, was a Turkmen politician who rule ...

, the Women's Union of Turkmenistan bore the name of Saparmurat Niyazov's mother,

Gurbansoltan Eje Gurbansoltan Eje ("Mother of Gurbansoltan"; born 1913 in Gypjak, Turkmenistan; died 6 October 1948 in Ashgabat during the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake) was the mother of Turkmenistan's first post-Soviet president Saparmurat Niyazov ("Türkmenbaşy"). ...

, who, during the reign of Niyazov, was considered the national heroine of Turkmenistan, a number of objects were named after her, such as streets, other geographical objects (for example, the city of

Gurbansoltan eje Gurbansoltan Eje ("Mother of Gurbansoltan"; born 1913 in Gypjak, Turkmenistan; died 6 October 1948 in Ashgabat during the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake) was the mother of Turkmenistan's first post-Soviet president Saparmurat Niyazov ("Türkmenbaşy"). ...

), the order of the same name, the name of the month April in the Turkmen calendar. Imitating the practice found in many communist states (for example Socialist Women's Union and DFRF in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

), Women's Union is a member of

Movement for National Revival Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy F ...

(Galkynysh), which was also controlled by Niyazov. During existence of the original People's Council, Women's Union was also represented in the council.The Europa World Year: Kazakhstan - Zimbabwe, Volume 2
/ref> This practice was discontinued with elimination of the council in 2008. However, following the results of the 2013 parliamentary election, the organization, like other parties and organizations (excluding the

Democratic Party of Turkmenistan ) , colours = Green Gold , seats1_title = Seats in the Assembly of Turkmenistan , seats1 = , colors = Green Gold , website tdp.gov.tm The Democratic Party of Turkmenistan ( tk, Türkmenistanyň Demokratik Partiýasy; ; TDP) has been the ...

, which has dominated the country since 1991), entered the Mejlis of Turkmenistan for the first time (16 out of 125 seats in the Mejlis) and remained until the 2018 election.

References

Feminist organizations in Turkmenistan Organizations established in 1994 1994 establishments in Turkmenistan {{Turkmenistan-stub