Women's Property Rights in Turkey

Abstract This article takes Turkey as a case study, exploring marital and inheritance regimes with regard to their impact on women and their ability to protect women's property rights. The aim of the study is to bring to light the workings of the legal system that regulate the acquisition of property and to scrutinize the gap between the law and its practice in Turkish society. By taking this approach, the article does not only focus on laws but also on how these laws are adopted by society. Thus, two levels of analysis-de jure and de facto-are utilized for an investigation of women's property rights and hence their social and economic status.