Gendering the State of Emergency Regime in Turkey

Since the 20th of July 2016, Turkey has been under the state of emergency. Reiteration of the hegemonic relationship between power, masculinity and violence for the reassertion of political rule is the central feature of state of emergency regimes. In Turkey, we experience sharp and sudden shifts of power within the political and legal sphere, and these shifts impact on gender norms and gender policies. This article aims to present the effects of the security state on women’s and LGBTI individuals’ life spaces, in order to gender Turkey’s state of emergency rule. It will discuss how the weakening of the separation of powers, and the granting of extreme powers to the executive, almost completely prevent any opportunities for advancing the women and LGBTI movements’ agenda through different modalities of the three branches of the state. The emergency measures ravage many of the women and LGBTI movement’s long-term struggles and achievements. The article will also discuss the government’s interventions in Kurdish municipalities and the closing down of women’s organizations, shelters and solidarity centers; such interventions meant the violent interruption of the institutional solidarity networks that had gained women’s trust with their long-term work. Moreover, public spaces are becoming extremely insecure for women and LGBTI individuals under the regime of the security state. The conservative and militarist individuals and groups that took over public spaces are supported by the sexist rhetoric of government officials. Encouraged by their new powers, conferred to them by the state of emergency regime, the police use extensive physical violence against women during gatherings and demonstrations. Sexual harassments and torture while under custody, against female and male detainees, are widespread.The article aims to analyze the state of emergency as a mechanism that works against all kinds of anti-oppression solidarities and alliances. However, I also establish that despite all of the draconian governmental measures, and the rising sexist violence in all segments of society, women and LGBTI groups resist the state of emergency regime in solidarity.