ANKARA – Turkish Daily News
Monday, July 31, 2006
Feminist writer Duygu Asena passes away

Duygu Asena, Turkey’s leading feminist journalist-writer and responsible for starting a number of popular women’s magazines, died yesterday after fighting a brain tumor for two years.

Asena, a leading defender of women’s rights in Turkey, died around 4:45 a.m. on Sunday morning in Istanbul’s American Hospital where she had been admitted on July 27 with a high temperature and respiratory problems, the hospital said.

“The tumor in Asena’s brain was highly aggressive and malignant,” said Asena’s doctor at American Hospital Ayse Fidan Baturalp, adding that Asena miraculously managed to live for two years after diagnosis, although the doctors had foreseen only 3-4 months of life for her at that time.

Asena, author of the best-selling “Woman Has No Name,” had trained to be a teacher but began writing for newspaper women’s pages in the early 1970s.

“I soon figured out that writing about butterflies and cooking every day was not for me. I had to give a message,” she said in a 1994 interview with The Associated Press.

The message, as she wrote in a magazine article, was this: “Escape the vicious circle. Fight for equal rights,” and get a job as a first step toward freedom.

In 1978, she founded the first women’s magazine in Turkey, “Kadinca”. Ignoring taboos, Asena was the first Turkish writer to explore such topics as women’s rights, sexuality and wife-beating.

“Woman Has No Name,” broke sales records when it was printed in 1987, but was banned in 1998 by the government, which found it to be too lewd and obscene. The ban was lifted after a two-year court battle. A film adaptation of the book broke box office records in Turkey.

Asena authored eight other feminist novels, including “There is no love,” — a sequel to “Woman Has No Name” — and wrote weekly newspaper columns. She has also acted in three movies.

She had mixed views on the progress made by women in Turkey.

“We’ve come a long way,” she told the AP, ?but there’s still a long way to go.”

Media representatives reacted with grief to Asena’s demise.

“She remained undeterred despite all the unjust criticism against her and her approach towards gender issues,” said Orhan Erinç, presidents of the Turkish Journalists’ Association (TGC). “Her death left yet another gap in the world of press that is difficult to fill.”

“Asena fought for the salvation of women from pressure and regain their own identity. She played a very important role in realization of the progress that has been achieved in the area of women’s rights,” said Ruhat Mengi, a columnist with daily Vatan.

Asena will be laid to rest after a funeral in Istanbul on Tuesday.

Her death followed demise of a number of Turkish journalists and actors in recent days. Journalists Reha Magden and Halit Çapn have died of cancer and liver indeficiency, respectively. Actress Aysen Tekin, a popular figure in television series, also died following a thyroid surgery, just days after actor Baykal Saran passed away.

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