One of the leading feminist activists of recent decades was Sirin Tekeli. Tekeli resigned as associate professor in the Faculty of Economics at Istanbul University in protest against the Board of Higher Education established after the 1980 military coup to control academic life.

In her writing Sirin Tekeli stressed the historical roots of feminism in Turkey: "The 1980s was not the first time that feminism came onto the agenda in Turkey. On the contrary, this was a century old movement, with its roots in late nineteenth-century Ottoman society." She also analysed "state feminism":

"Once equal suffrage was achieved the state claimed that 'gender equality being a reality in Turkey', women did not need an organization of their own

• Sirin Tekeli ed., Women in Modern Turkish Society