ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the competing discourses on sexuality, in particular on honor and virginity; criminalization of sexual relations of youth; and sexual orientation, which emerged as the most controversial issues during the Penal Code Reform Campaign. It describes the author's personal experience as the initiator of the Women's Working Group on the Penal Code (WWGTPC) and coordinator of Women for Women's Human Rights (WWHR)-NEW WAYS, which served as coordinating secretariat for entire campaign. The European Commission, which urged Turkey to reform its penal code, was concerned with abolition of the death penalty, pre-trial detention provisions and expansion of the scope of freedom of expression, and not with gender equality or articles concerning sexuality. The chapter argues transformation from the Ottoman Empire and its legal regime based on religious norms to a modern, secular Turkish Republic with a secular, western legal framework included the translation of Islamic and customary laws, norms and discourses on gender hierarchy into a new language.
