From the NYT:
Duygu Asena, a best-selling writer and crusader for women’s rights in Turkey, died Sunday in Istanbul. She was 60.
She had battled for two years with a brain tumor and died in American Hospital, where she was admitted Thursday with a high temperature and respiratory problems, the hospital said.
Ms. Asena, the author of the influential book”Woman Has No Name,”had trained to be a teacher but began writing for what were considered women’s pages in newspapers in the early 1970’s.
In 1978 she founded the first women’s magazine in Turkey. Ignoring taboos, Ms. Asena was the first Turkish writer to explore topics like women’s rights, sexuality and wife-beating.
“Woman Has No Name”broke sales records when it was printed in 1987, but was later banned by the government, which found it to be 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.
Ms. Asena wrote eight other feminist novels, including”There Is No Love”: a sequel to”Woman Has No Name”: and weekly newspaper columns.
From the Turkish Daily News:
Thousands paid their last respects on Tuesday to Duygu Asena, Turkey’s foremost feminist writer and journalist, as she was laid to rest.
The first ceremony was held in front of the offices of the daily Vatan, her last place of employment. Journalist HaÅŸmet BabaoÄŸlu, speaking at the ceremony, said: “She wanted lives not just words to be free and enlightened. She never got discouraged throughout her campaigns. Duygu Asena represents a benchmark in Turkish journalism.”
He said she had made an immeasurable contribution for female journalists.
A second ceremony was held in front of the Ataturk Culture Center (AKM), featuring a documentary on her achievements, prepared by journalist Nebil Özgentürk. Metin Uca said they all wore white to Asena’s farewell ceremony because that’s what she had wanted.
Many people from the business, press and art community attended the ceremony held in TeÅŸvikiye Mosque. Among them were Istanbul Mayor Muammer Güler, ÅžiÅŸli Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül, businessman Bület Eczacıbaşı, artists Sezen Aksu, Emel Sayın daily Hürriyer Editor In Chief ErtuÄŸrul Özkök, journalist Hıncal Uluç, and author YaÅŸar Kemal. Istanbul Mayor Güler said that Duygu Asena was a dauntless defender of women’s rights. YaÅŸar Kemal said that Duygu Asena was a brave person and a hero. After the prayer, a group of women carried Asena’s coffin on their shoulders with the slogan, “There are women, women are everywhere.” At the end of the ceremony the funeral was taken to the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery. …
