Sule Toktas

Turkey's Jews and their Immigration to Israel

The largestmass emigration of minorities from Turkey was that of the Greeks during theTurkish–Greek population exchanges of the early 1920s. However, the emigration ofthe Jews was not part of a government-mandated population exchange. On thecontrary, the Jews immigrated to Israel of their own free will. Despite this prominentcharacteristic, the mass migration of Jews to Israel has failed to attract significantattention either from the perspective of policy-making or of social science, as shownby the paucity of studies on the subject. Even in terms of official documentation onthe scope of migration from Turkey to Israel, the more concrete and reliable datacome from Israeli sources, which can be interpreted as a natural consequence ofIsrael being founded by Jewish immigration (aliya)

Gender and the Wage Gap in Turkish Academia

Turkey maintains one of the lowest female labour force participation rates in Europe, but also boasts an above average number of female professors. Turkey is well above the European average (15 per cent) with approximately 28 per cent of full professorships being occupied by women. Despite these seemingly positive indications, do men and women in Turkish academia earn the same wages? This study explores whether or not there exists a gendered pay gap in Turkish academia. Using data collected from a survey of more than 700 Turkish academics, we observed that there is a gendered wage gap that disadvantages women, but only at the highest pay levels found at private universities indicating the existence of intra-class inequality, where men and women despite occupying the same class position are compensated differently.

Smuggling and Trafficking in Turkey: An Analysis of EU–Turkey Cooperation in Combating Transnational Organized Crime

Since the 1990s, there has been a global proliferation of transnational organized crime (TOC). Turkey, as a transit site between the East and the West, has been one of the routes through which organized crime groups transport illicit goods in collaboration with other networks of crime. This paper investigates TOC in Turkey and maps out Turkeys role as a transit country in smuggling and trafficking. The paper also deals with Turkeys contribution to international efforts in combating TOC in light of its EU membership process. The European Commissions annual reports on Turkeys progress towards EU membership that highlight the achievements as well as the shortcomings of Turkey in combating TOC are presented. The paper argues that Turkey has introduced successful reforms and expanded its institutional capacities due to the progress it has achieved in the specific area of combating TOC, as evidenced by the EU progress reports.

Women's Property Rights in Turkey

Abstract This article takes Turkey as a case study, exploring marital and inheritance regimes with regard to their impact on women and their ability to protect womens property rights. The aim of the study is to bring to light the workings of the legal system that regulate the acquisition of property and to scrutinize the gap between the law and its practice in Turkish society. By taking this approach, the article does not only focus on laws but also on how these laws are adopted by society. Thus, two levels of analysis—de jure and de facto—are utilized for an investigation of womens property rights and hence their social and economic status.

Does migration contribute to women’s empowerment? Portrait of urban Turkey and Istanbul

ABSTRACT This article empirically investigates the impact of internal migration on women’s empowerment in urban areas of Turkey. Based on data from a nationally representative household survey, we find that migration exerts a positive impact in urban settings through improvements in educational attainment and labor market outcomes. Migration contributes to women’s empowerment by raising their education levels and lowering the gap in schooling between men and women. Migration also allows migrants, both men and women and particularly those with tertiary education, to access jobs and occupations in high wage regions like Istanbul. However, unlike in education, a gender wage gap persists even after migration.