CHP drafts proposal for maiden names

ANKARA

Tanrıkulu drafts an amendment to the law regulating women’s last names. DHA photo

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chair Sezgin Tanrıkulu has drafted an amendment to the law that obliges women to bear their husband’s name.

The draft, introduced to the Parliament Speaker’s office yesterday, proposes amending Article 187 of the Turkish Civil Code (TMK) which states: “Married women shall bear their husband’s name. However, they can make a written declaration to the Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths on signing the marriage deed, or at the Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths after the marriage, if they wish to keep their maiden name in front of their surname.”

If the proposal is eventually adopted, women will be able to keep their maiden name after marriage without also holding their husband’s name.

In his reasoning for the proposal, Tanrıkulu said a woman’s maiden name was the most important element determining her identity and that the obligation to abandon this could lead to identity confusion. He also said that changing the surnames of women after marriage weakened the reputation of women in society. k HDN