Süreyya Agaoglu-year 2011/12

Namesake Süreyya Agaoglu

Süreyya Agaoglu is an important figure in Turkish history as the first female lawyer of the Turkish Republic.

Agaoglu, who died in 1989 at the age of 85, practised law for 58 years. She was the daughter of Ahmet Agaoglu, a professor of law. When she wanted to enrol at the Istanbul Law Faculty, she encountered obstacles. As there were no female students at that time, she turned to the university's rector, Professor Selahattin. While at that time women still dressed in the "çarsaf", Agaoglu, who came to the meeting with Selahattin Bey without a head covering, declared that she wanted to study law at the faculty. This was rejected. But when the persistent Süreyya Agaoglu showed up again with three other friends who also wanted to become lawyers like her, she was accepted to study.
So in the mornings the students attended the lectures, while in the afternoons the female students followed, which was difficult to manage.

Agaoglu, who refused to wear a head covering, retorted to the men who pointed out to cover her head, "I will not cover my head, don't you look!"

Süreyya Agaoglu also became a champion of equal rights. She also became a member of the International Commission of Jurists established in Berlin in 1948. Elected to the Administrative Commission of the Federation of International Bar Associations in 1949, Agaoglu fought legally in the Yassiada trials that took place after the military coup by defending her father. Süreyya Agaoglu is the author of the book What I Saw in London and the book One Life Has Passed Just Like This, among others.

Agaoglu died in Istanbul on 29 December 1989 from a stroke she suffered while leaving a panel discussion on "Women's Rights and Modernisation".

Text: http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%BCreyya_A%C4%9Fao%C4%9Flu

The participants of the "Süreyya Agaoglu Year 2011/2012" are:

Ünal Aslan, Songül Nihal Berk, Melissa Gürbüz, Kaan-Yusuf Gürer, Selda Inceoglu, Pinar Kalkan, Bahar Keskin, Osman Kurnaz, Ercan Tasdemir, Alev Topal, Deniz, Yalcin, Özlem Bakirci, Gökhan Özvardar