Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi Dergisi

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the existence of Syrian Women’s Charity Association [Suriye Nisvan Umur-ı Hayriye Cemiyeti], which was established in Damascus in 1915 in order to help the 4th Army in the First World War and to enable women to work in an honourable and moral manner, by including the regulations and internal instructions of the society. Discussions on women’s rights literally started with the Tanzimat Era. It reached its peak during the Second Constitutional Monarchy Period. During this period, many concrete steps were taken for women to socialise and participate in working life. The reforms that gave women the legal right to divorce from men for the first time were also made during this period. With the Law on Associations [Cemiyetler Kanunu] enacted in August 1909, women were also given the right to establish societies and associations. For this reason, many women’s associations were established for social aid purposes as of 1908. When the First World War began, women who sent their men to the front came together and formed various societies to at least help in the back services. One of the women’s societies established was Syrian Women’s Charity Association, which operated in the headquarters of the 4th Army. In this study, the establishment, functioning and extremely rare activities of Syrian Women’s Charity Association, about which very limited information is available, are brought to light from a scientific perspective. The historical research method is used in the study. The data obtained while applying this method was classified and analysed with the document analysis technique. In this context, archival documents (Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Directorate of State Archives, Ottoman Archive), the press of the period, albeit limited, and works in the existing literature are used. The study prepared in this way consists of an introduction, a main section and a conclusion. In the introduction part of the study, preparatory information about the issue of women’s rights in Türkiye and the process of women’s association is given. In the main part, the regulation and instructions of Syrian Women’s Charity Association, which have been found in the archival documents and information about its activities, are presented. In this way, concrete data about the founders of the society, the purpose of its establishment and its administrative mechanism have been found. It is understood that the society solved the unemployment problem of the women of the region with the institutions such as the hospital, carpet manufacturing and sewing workshop it established, and made important contributions to the 4th Army behind the front by meeting the daily and health needs of the soldiers.