TURKISH WOMEN.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 January 1929, Page 15

TURKISH WOMEN.

THEIR ADVANCEMENT.

(Special to News.) London, Nov. 29.

The emancipation of Turkish women, about which so much is heard nowadays, is by no means to be regarded as something sudden, unexpected and lacking system. Even in the days of the Sultan Abdul Hamid, it was recognised that young girls ought to be given a fair chance of education, and several special schools were started in Constantinople and in principal provincial centres, Later on, high schools and colleges sprang into being, and many girls who wished to complete their education went to Paris and Vienna.

Tho'most conspicuous development in women’s affairs has taken place, :of course, under the present regime. The new Civil code has proscribed polygamy, giving the woman a definite place of honour in her husband’s household. But fthe is rapidly proving her worth in domains outside the home. She has taken her place at many a governmental desk, where her work is reckoned with and fully appreciated. Less than twenty years ago, a Turkish typist' would have been more than rarity; to-day, women hold poets of no small responsibility. Twelve years ago, they were partially admitted to the universities. Two years later, the initial restrictions were removed and they had access to all the faculties. To-day, you may find women doctors, fully qualified lawyers and barristers.

Their great aim is to get their full political franchise. They have several ably-run organisations working for this achievement. Kemal Pasha is a lover of reforms and it is hoped that the greatest of all feminine reforms will be realised whilst he is at the helm of Turkish affairs.

After having considered their educational and social advancement, there is still another point to bring forward: •their really exceptional aptitude for the reforms, which means that these in no way clash with their formei” acceptance of life and things. They slip into European clothes like those born to them; yet they wear them with all the indescribable grace habitual to eastern yvomen. They revel in western dances and enjoy a party run on more or less western lines; yet here again they bring an atmosphere of their very own. And even a casual onlooker would admit that this peculiar stamp of Orientalism increases, rather than decreases, the charm and pleasure of those essentially western things the women of Turkey are now enjoying. —v.o.s.

Old gas mantles, crushed to a powder, are excellent for polishing silver. Rinse the articles in boiling water, to which a little cloudy ammonia has been added, and apply the crushed mantle on a damp cloth. Finally, polish with a chamois leather.