First Turkish couple marrying with ‘equality deal’

İZMİR

A couple in the western province of İzmir has blazed a trail in Türkiye by signing a “gender equality deal,” before tying the knot, saying that there can be no love when there is no equality.

The remarkable wedding ceremony that came to the country’s attention recently, occurred on July 23.

Zeliha Şemin and Murat Büyükyılmaz got married in a ceremony conducted by Filiz Ceritoğlu Sengel, the mayor of the Selçuk district, and signed a deal in front of the guests.

With the deal, the couple announced, “We, as two free individuals, declare that we will be two sides of an equal life and unite our lives upon this equality base.”

“We promise to protect and strengthen this equality agreement in all moments in our joint life.”

“No equality, no love,” the couple announced.

The agreement came to the country’s agenda with an Instagram post by the U.N. Women Türkiye on Sept. 3. The institution said, “The inspiration of the day comes from a couple signing the ‘equality deal.’ We wish the couple happiness and hope their equality inspiration spreads to their whole lives.”

Speaking to the daily Milliyet on Sept. 4, the couple said, “We think the main reason of the problems people suffer, is based on the social inequalities.”

“We thought that our love can only exist if we can keep the equality and decided to sign the deal in front of our guests,” the couple added.