Polygamy in Turkey

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Turkey is a predominantly Muslim nation that has abolished polygamy, which was officially criminalized with the adoption of the Turkish Civil Code in 1926, a milestone in Atatürk's secularist reforms. Penalties for illegal polygamy are up to 2 years imprisonment.[http://legislationline.org/documents/action/popup/id/6872/preview Turkish Penal Code, Art. 230] Turkey has long been known for its promotion of secularism{{Cite web |last=Landau |first=Jacob M. |title=Turkey Between Secularism and Islamism |url=https://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp352.htm |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=www.jcpa.org}}{{Cite news |date=2007-04-13 |title=Turkey's secularism 'threatened' |language=en-GB |work=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6554099.stm |access-date=2023-10-02}}Modernity, Islam, and secularism in Turkey By Alev Çinar and later introduced even stricter bars on polygamy. Even the ruling moderate AK Parti effectively banned polygamists from entering or living in the country.{{Cite web |title=polygamy411.com - polygamy411 Resources and Information. |url=http://ww1.polygamy411.com/2009/05/polygamy-in-turkey |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=ww1.polygamy411.com}}

File:Smyrne Group of Gypsy.jpg man with his wives and children, in front of their tent in Smyrna (today İzmir) in 1903]]

Although illegal polygamy is very rare in Turkish society, the practice still exists in the Kurdish-populated rural southeast.{{Cite news |last=Bilefsky |first=Dan |date=2006-07-10 |title=Polygamy Fosters Culture Clashes (and Regrets) in Turkey |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/10/world/europe/10turkey.html |access-date=2023-10-02 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite web |date=30 August 2005 |title=The hidden wives of Turkey |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/4165896.stm |accessdate=16 August 2010 |publisher=BBC}}