SELFISH MEN
Some also talked about honor killings, but the essential view was to stress that women don’t have equal rights, either in law or in fact. These statements were mostly men’s. Does International Women’s Day have any importance for women in Turkey? Nese Gullu (who owns the Gulluoglu baklava) answered this question through e-mail: ‘I’d like to begin by saying, Happy International Women’s Day. This is perhaps said for people in more developed countries, not for women in Turkey… As women in our country are not free and independent enough, and aren’t on a level playing field with men. Our late Ataturk gave gender equality to our women on a silver platter, but easily gained rights in practice unfortunately face resistance from selfish men. We have to claim our legal rights. I object to this unfair resistance by men. I’m the daughter of Halit Gullu, who owned the patent rights to the Gulluoglu baklava pastry. I was my father’s partner in this business since 2000 until he passed away six months ago. Now my relatives say: ‘You’re a woman and so you can’t be involved in this business for if you do it, then other girls will too. Close your shops.’ I have three shops and small factories and employ 25 workers. My brothers and cousins are using the same Gulluoglu name, but they don’t want me to just because I’m a woman… This is the mentality of chauvinistic and selfish men. Don’t we have any brains? Are jobs for women in this country limited or are we just unaware? Men should respect women’s rights every day, instead of just buying presents and trying to appease us only on International Women’s Day.’
Gullu later told me that only 13 members of the Gullu family, which goes back five generations, are in this business, and they have a total of 34 shops in Istanbul. ‘People think that there is only one Gulluoglu shop, the one in the Karakoy district, and that the others are counterfeit. This isn’t true. We produce the same baklava and have inherited the same patent. They can’t ignore me just because I’m a woman. I’ll continue my fight to stay in this business”.’
