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| Türkan Urmulu |
On International Women's Day, Southern Azerbaijani poet and graduate of Urmia and Ankara Universities in law and international law, Türkan Urmulu, spoke to Voice of America about her literary work, women's rights in Iran, the role of women in Iranian law, and the potential of Azerbaijani women in Iranian society.
"In Iran's penal code, women are sometimes considered half a person and sometimes not even present. The Iranian constitution portrays women as human production machines," said the lawyer from Urmia, emphasizing the degrading treatment of women in Iranian legislation.
How much of the issue of women's rights is tied to men or Islam? Türkan Urmulu's position on this matter is somewhat complex. "Blaming everything solely on Islam or men is not correct. After all, every man in society is also raised by a woman," she said, stressing that women also bear responsibility for the dominance of patriarchal values in society.
Türkan described the state of activism for women's rights in the south as "horrific." She noted that openly organizing marches for women's rights in Iran is not possible. "We need a women's movement in Southern Azerbaijan, and there is sufficient potential for it," she added.
The young poet from Urmia has published two poetry collections to date. Her anthologies, Gördüm and Özgə Toz, were published in 2005 and 2012 by Yaz Publications in Urmia and Qanun Publications in Baku, respectively. Türkan Urmulu also announced plans to launch a journal called Ban with a group of Southern Azerbaijani writers and poets living in Turkey, dedicated to contemporary Southern Azerbaijani literature.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Türkan Urmulu: İran qanunlarında qadın yarım-insan sayılır