Headscarved Women Protest Court Ruling in Turkey
Hundreds of women who wear a headscarf in daily life, and who wish to wear in governmental / official buildings, protested against the court ruling yesterday and Friday. Turkey’s highest court ruled last week that the abolishment of the headscarf ban is unconstitutional. According to the court, allowing women to wear a headscarf in universities is in breach with the constitutional principle of strict secularism, also known as laicism.
The women, who form a small minority of all Turkish women, are determined to wear the headscarf at all times, and at all places. Although they have never been allowed to wear it (officially), they now make a big deal out of it, because the Justice and Development Party is in power (AK Parti). This party has Islamist roots and many of its supporters want to reform Turkey; they want to turn Turkey into an Islamic state. Even though this country’s population is Muslim, it is a secular state right now.
Hundreds of headscarved women protested in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir Friday, as well as in Istanbul. Diyarbakir is one of Turkey’s most backwards and conservative cities. Many of those living there are, incidentally, Kurds (those who know a bit about Turkey will understand it when I say ‘but I’m repeating myself’ after those sentences).
Esra Altınay Özbecetek, 29, who ditched university when she was 19 because she was not allowed to wear her headscarf to class commented: “I’m crushed and feel hopeless. I really don’t feel equal to anybody else in this country anymore. For 10 years I’ve watched people enter and graduate from university and I’ve just sat by and watched.”
That sounds terrible and all, but what is so interesting about this woman is that the headscarf was not an issue, until she and the Justice and Development Party made a big issue out of it. It was not allowed, and most people accepted that (with most I mean 99%). But then, suddenly, the headscarf was politicized and women who normally wear a headscarf now feel discriminated against.
It also important to point out that this particular woman is part of a very small minority. Most women who normally wear a headscarf take it off in public buildings. That this woman chooses not to do so, is a sure sign of her political and religious agenda; in short, with her, they intertwine. Feeling sorry for her is – I’m writing this so that foreigners who do not know much about Turkey may understand the issue a bit better – akin to feeling sorry for the Taliban.
These women are not to be pitied. They are not victims, even though they try to pretend they are. They are, in Western terms, aggressors. They are victims in the sense that they wish to oppress all those who are not conservative Muslims, but that they are prevented from doing so. In essence, you could say, they are only victims in so far that they are not allowed to force others to live like they would like them to live. These people are the same people who are making it impossible for people to sell and drink alcohol. They are also the same people who wish to make it illegal for people to cheat on their husband or wife. And they are the same people who agree with the article recently published at the website of Turkey’s Religious Ministry, in which women are called upon to dress in a ‘non-provocative’ and ‘humble’ manner. After all, the article says, women who are raped are often to blame because they dress too ’sexy.’
If these people take over the government, this could very well become Turkey’s official policy; if you don’t want to be raped, well, you should cover yourself.
Before people start saying that this is a woman who is quoted in the article, not a man, I feel the need to point out that all too often, women are the oppressors of other women. Men would not be able to oppress is women, if other women did not assist them.
Fatma Aslan, a 24 year-old masters student put it quite well: “Personally, I’m afraid that the headscarf could become an established symbol of the state and that wearing headscarves in universities is just the first step, so I think the (court) decision is a well grounded one.”
Let these headscarved women cry all they want to; if Turks want to prevent their women to cover up at all times and all places, they should ignore their complaints, and continue to adhere to laicism.
EU countries should learn from Turkey and ban Islamist headscarves. After all, Nazi swastikas are banned as well.
Hey, Michael – What evidence do you have to support your claim that the AKP is trying to turn Turkey into an "Islamic state?" Surely, allowing people to dress in whatever clothing they like is not a good indication. Such an act shows a willingness to extend basic freedoms as exist in most liberal democracies.
Regards, JK
Jeb, see my post with the e-mail I received. Or see the post about the pig farmers, who are gradually taken out of business altogether. Or note how the AK Parti officials in villages and even neighborhoods and entire cities, are making it virtually impossible for people to sell and drink alcohol. Or note the article that appeared at the website of the religious ministry recently, in which women were told to dress more ‘modestly’ so that they would not be raped. Or look at some old videos of Erdogan, lashing out at Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and claiming that ‘we’ (Islamists) are going to start a revolution. Look at the fact that many AK Parti leaders, such as Gül and Erdogan, are followers of a Turk living in the US, who is an outspoken Islamist.
The list goes on and on. Seriously, the only way for one not to understand this is to willfully ignore the obvious.