Archive: Turkey's Women-Only Beach Split Opinion (2014)

From the TI archives — originally published September 2014.

In September 2014, the Mediterranean city of Antalya inaugurated a women-only beach at Sarısu. The idea: a stretch of sand where women could swim and sunbathe free from the presence of men. The city's mayor, Menderes Türel, framed it as a service to women — a facility for their comfort and enjoyment.

Not everyone was convinced. Critics read the move politically, as another step in Turkey's drift toward religious conservatism under the AKP government. The sharpest criticism came from within parliament: Aylin Nazlıaka, an MP from the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), called the women-only beach "a backward and out-of-date practice" and accused the government of hypocrisy on women's rights.

The concept itself wasn't new, and it wasn't exclusive to Muslim-majority countries. Dubai's Jumeirah Beach long reserved ladies-only days with all-female staff. And in 2007, Italy opened its own women-only beach — though there, the lifeguards were men, which rather undercut the premise.

The Antalya beach crystallized a genuine tension: is a women-only space an expansion of women's freedom — the ability to enjoy the sea without harassment or scrutiny — or a concession that public space can't be made safe and equal for everyone? Turkey's answer in 2014 depended entirely on who was asked.