Turkish Mother Citizens and Their Homefront Duties: The Cold War Discourse of the Türk Kadını Magazine

Abstract

In the columns of the Türk Kadini (Turkish Woman) magazine, published between 1966 and 1974, it was argued that Turkish women had a duty to contribute to the protection of the Turkish state by preventing the spread of communism among their children. This alleged duty was grounded in the double responsibilities of Turkish women as mothers and citizens. The concept of a Mother Citizen as well as the conception of Turkish mothers having certain Cold War homefront duties was grounded in the history of the Turkish republic. Women had fought along with men in the War of Independence, and as a recognition of their contributions, they had been granted civic rights. Now, according to Türk Kadini, another war, the Cold War, required Turkish women to prove themselves deserving of their civic rights by once again contributing to the defence of the state. In their double capacity as mothers and citizens, Turkish women were called upon to serve at an ideological homefront, fulfilling their civic duties to the state by applying their maternal influence on their children.