SHE has a gentle face and caring manner. She has completed nine years of medical school and training, including a year as a clinician at a hospital in the Welsh city of Bangor. But at 29, Dr Ayse Maden cannot work in her home country of Turkey as the paediatrician she has trained to be because she wears a headscarf.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” she says, pointing at the offending item, which is white with green and black spots on the day we meet. Headscarves are banned inside public offices in Turkey, including schools and hospitals, and Maden has to scrape a living doing occasional medical translation. Yet outside on a busy Istanbul street, almost every woman passing is wearing a headscarf.
It is this simple square of cloth that has provoked a political crisis, exposing a growing rift between Islamists and secularists over Turkey’s direction, and threatening a military coup.
Almost two-thirds of Turkish women wear a headscarf – 62%, according to the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation – but the prime minister’s nomination of a president whose wife wears a headscarf has produced outrage. More than a million flag-waving protesters came out on to the streets of Istanbul last Sunday.
It also prompted the country’s powerful military to post a warning on the army’s website that it may intervene to protect the secular state laid down by its founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
“The headscarf is a political symbol,” explains Professor Nilufer Narli, head of sociology at Bahcesehir University, who was among the protesters. “People think if the first lady wears a headscarf then many things will change, threatening our whole secular system and forcing all women to wear headscarves.”
Ayse Maden was two years into her degree at the Bosphorus University in Istanbul when the headscarf ban was imposed in 1998. “I had worn it since I was 16 because it is part of my Muslim faith to cover my head,” she said. “It was my dream to be a paediatrician but I couldn’t just stop something that is an important part of my religion.”
For two years she and her headscarf-wearing friends, such as Havva Kaplan, continued trying to get into the university every morning but most days were forced back by the police or the professors. Her parents and professors suggested she stop wearing the scarf or, like many women, wear a wig on top of it. “I cried a lot thinking about it,” she said. In the end she learnt English and went to Hungary to study before going to Wales to work.
Maden and Kaplan are activists for the Women’s Rights Organisation Against Discrimination, set up in 1999 to fight for an end to the ban. They have issued lawsuits against universities, and lobbied MPs and nongovernmental organisations, but Kaplan admits: “We’ve got nowhere.”
Their hopes were dashed when the headscarf ban was upheld by the European Court of Human Rights in 2005 and now they mostly raise money to send headscarf-wearing girls to study overseas.
“It should be our right to wear what we like,” said Kaplan, sitting in an office decorated with paintings of women in headscarves crying behind wire or being silenced by the hands of police. “This ban is excluding women from higher education and denying them jobs.”
Among their friends is a woman with a top degree in international relations who is now taking a cookery course because her headscarf bars her from working as a diplomat. Another is a lawyer who has to pass cases to her brother when they reach court because she cannot appear. And although the ban applies only to state institutions, it deters many firms from employing women in headscarves.
“I don’t understand why people are so scared of the headscarf,” said Kaplan. “We don’t see why Turkey can’t be both modern and Islamic.”
Despite the stark contrast in Istanbul between places such as the glitzy Kanyon centre, where the wealthy shop at Harvey Nichols, and the poor suburb of Fatih where the mosque is the focus of attention, it is common to see scantily clad women arm in arm with those in headscarves and long coats.
But many Turks believe it is a choice, pointing out that the issue takes on much more significance, given Turkey’s geographical position straddling East and West and with neighbours such as Iran and Iraq.
“This is not just a political crisis, it’s a war about a style of life,” says Narli, the sociology professor, tossing back her long, highlighted hair with red manicured nails to match her red high heels. “All my friends are tense and angry and worried about the future for their daughters.”
She points out that the past 30 years has seen an enormous influx of rural people into the cities bringing with them village traditions such as wearing headscarves. At the same time headscarves have been changing. While mothers tended to wear simple scarves tied under the chin, their daughters are using what are known in Turkey as turbans – scarves pinned to cover the neck completely.
“For years the middle classes have been silent but we see our society changing, more and more people wearing turbans and going to Mecca,” said Narli. “It’s like slicing a sausage piece by piece until people decide that’s enough. That’s why many came to the streets to protest for the first time in their lives.”
The battle over the headscarf is not just about religious beliefs. It also represents a clash between a fiercely secular elite, the so-called “white Turks”, and a new urban entrepreneurial class, many of whom came from the countryside. These generally support the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development (AK) party that swept to power in 2002 after an economic collapse.
The issue came to a head 10 days ago when Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, nominated his foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, to replace President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who steps down on May 16. A Gul presidency would mean the country’s parliament, government and presidency would all be controlled by an Islamic party for the first time.
A parliamentary vote in Gul’s favour on April 27 led to the generals’ ultimatum late that night. Describing themselves as “the absolute defenders of secularism”, they added: “When necessary we will demonstrate our attitudes . . . Let no one doubt this.”
Few did: Turkey’s army is Nato’s second biggest with more than 1m soldiers and has ousted four governments in the past 50 years, the latest just 10 years ago.
Last Sunday saw the secularists’ second mass protest in a fortnight, chanting, “No to Shariat [Islamic laws]!” and “We will reconquer Istanbul!” On Monday the Turkish lira tumbled and stocks fell 4%.
There was little surprise on Tuesday night when the constitutional court declared the vote for Gul invalid, invoking a little-known law requiring a quorum of 367 MPs. Parliament brought forward elections to July 22.
An angry Erdogan described the court’s decision as “a bullet fired at democracy” and vowed to press on with Gul’s candidacy. Another vote is scheduled for today but the necessary quorum is not expected to be achieved.
Tens of thousands of people protested against the government in two western cities yesterday, calling for the secular system to be preserved.
Gul is regarded as charming, speaks several languages and, as foreign minister, has overseen negotiations for accession to the EU. “I have been Turkey’s foreign minister for 4½ years,” he said last week. “There are not many people in Turkey who can be trusted if I can’t be.”
But Turkey’s president holds important powers, such as chairing the national security council and appointing judges, university rectors and top civil servants as well as a veto over legislation.
Many secular Turks suspect AK harbours a hidden Islamic agenda that it would implement once it had control. They point out that Erdogan was imprisoned in 1999 for inciting religious hatred after he recited an incendiary Islamic verse and was photographed sitting at the feet of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a fundamentalist Afghan warlord.
This view is widely held at the Ataturk Thought Association (ADD), which aims to protect the legacy of the revered founding father of the 84-year-old republic. The ADD was one of the groups behind last Sunday’s rally and its office above the Bakirkoy market is bustling with people preparing flyers for others all over the country.
The ADD’s president claims that membership has risen from 350,000 to 1m because people are so fearful that secularism is under threat. One of the new members is a pretty 18-year-old called Ekiem who hopes to study industrial engineering.
“AK wants to turn Turkey into Iran and force us to wear chadors,” she says. “To me there’s a war going on for Turkey now and my generation must fight for the republic as the young generation did during Ataturk’s time.”
Yet nobody at the ADD is able to name a single law promoted by the AK party that challenges the country’s secularism. Some AK-controlled municipalities have created alcohol-free zones and Erdogan did try to criminalise adultery in 2004 as part of a reform of the penal code but withdrew it under EU pressure. Yet the party has disappointed many of its own supporters by not lifting the headscarf ban.
Under AK rule, Turkey has seen lower inflation and higher foreign investment, and has been accepted as a candidate for EU membership.
The events of the past 10 days, including the army’s statement, may have strengthened the AK’s position in the forthcoming elections, though yesterday two centre-right parties announced that they were uniting to take it on.
Not everyone is unhappy. At the Tekbir headscarf shop in Fatih, where scarves are on sale for anything from £2 for cotton to £50 for silk, sales have been booming so much that it now has three branches.
“Maybe Turkey is now two Turkeys,” said Cemil, one of the salesmen. “But I know which one is growing faster.”
It is true that some people are dreaming for Shariat... But they make up only the %5 of the population... That the 62 % of Turkish women wears scarf is one of the biggest lies ever told about Turkey. It is a lie produced by the people who tries to blacken Turkey's name worldwide... Turkey is a Laic republic- not a secular one... We are more like France than England in that respect...Kisses and Best regards...
Rıdvan, ANKARA, TURKEY
headscarf problem in Turkey not just a religious problem but more than that it is a political problem because of that it is forbidden in universities also.. and for a girl to choose her religion or her academic life that also contains her social life is a so hard decision . because islam and a people who is a muslim that want to live her religious life can not be seperated from the social life. if you search islam these are things that are related eachother that you can not see a real muslim so many space from the real world and from the religious life also because they are bound up together we should perceive them together....so to demand from someone to decide religion or the real world position is not a logical thing because religion contains world(social life) and world contains religion
merve, istanbul, turkey
"almost every woman passing is wearing a headscarf"
this saying is not true, is not right.
These sayings are something like "propaganda".
Someone who visits Türkiye knows that these sayings are not true.
Our grandmothers were wearing headscarves, but now, today,a minority wears headscarf. This minority is using headscarf for their political ambitions.
Thanks for your interest.
Yildiz, İstanbul, Türkiye
Why turkish people suffer from a Confusion today when sometimes ago these same "politicians" offered and promised "A bright future!". Aren't these the same faces, the same politicians?
Why some people have to pull the country to bring back the primitive way of uncivilized and scarfed way of living when the others the seculatives wants to continue to live in a Republic formed 84 years ago with Reforms for Civilization and to live their life free in a very well understood and well accepted Democracy according to the most recent and Civilized way?
Well, who is suffering today - the confused people of the country. Why?
Askin, London/Istanbul, UK
Some people say that it remind them the "Tom and Jerry" cartoon, while the secularists, from one hand are trying to keep the inherited from M. K. Ataturk Republic of Turkey in the most appropriate, civilized life style having and using all of the latest features of our Civilized Century such as computers and mobilephones and driving the latest vehicle, transport makes and from the other hand we have the other side trying "To steal the cheese!" (To destroy the Civilization reforms) - they are still trying to bring back everything to the times of uncivilized days and primitive terms and ways of living which was more appropriate to the human kind who lived a few centuries ago when in these old times there wasn't enough water everywhere to wash themselves and to keep clean people had to hide their bodies under cover to keep clean for longer because they couldn't bath so often.
Well, from this point comes a very important paradox, which many of us can not see: Why these face - clothed or
Askin, London/Istanbul, UK
Turkey is an 84 years old Republic created with the Civilization Reforms by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk the most celebrated historical name who left such a great treasure to the inheritants of the Republic of Turkey - his Reforms for Civilization! The country is a place for people with a good understanding of the Civilization and nowadays life-style! If someone is not so happy& if there is a major problem for them living in the Republic of Turkey why they are not leaving the country? There are plenty of other countries in Asia where they can wear headscarfs and all other things whatever their beliefs requires them to wear! We are the inheritants of this Republic and we are ought to keep it the way it was left to us! I don't recall anyone in the 70's wearing headscarfs or turbans! All we used to wear was short skirts and shorts & all of the western fashion, the most important is everybody was so happy! There wasn't people having a row over some religious political formations flag -headskarfs!
Askin, Istanbul, Turkey/UK
Headscarfs are worn in the latest few years or maybe a decade by women who are from the old fashioned village families who are supporting a political and religious formations which in the last few years was given a name AK. And for the last few years, since the headscarf started to be a political flag or sign of a religious formation, was born the big unresolved headscarf dispute. Which was warmed-up "not intentionally" by whom? What was the cause and what are the aims?
Askin, London/Istanbul, UK
The legal basis for the restriction of ethnic or religious preference for civil servants is not unique to Turkey. It is characteristic of the French unitarian state which forms the legal basis for parliamentary democracy in many European countries. France also does not allow civil servants and students to wear the headscarves but for some reason Turkey has become the black sheep in these issues. One has to wonder why? Is it more offenc=sive to come to terms with such a large body of muslims who have appropriated enlightenment values? Perhaps it is more comforting to Europeans to be able to see Turks with headscarves in the appearance of the "other" rather than having to deal with millions of Muslims that look too European?
ceylan tozeren, Istanbul, Turkey
For a long time in west everybody thought that secularists are some small portion of the population and they are elitist who are trying to force their believes an lifestyles . That was the view in the west mainly from the islamists propaganda.
I hope that the west realizes there are lots people only want to save their lifestyles. There is not a single example that any pro islamic state in the world now and in the history can or could show tolerances the others. We can see the these tendencies now in Turkey's Pro islamic government today. They are fiercely fighting for the headscarf but doing nothing and saying nothing for the nearly 5000 women who are killed by their parents only because they do not want forcely marry with the people who are chosen by their families according to islamic traditions.
Because for them women are second class species comparing to the man.
Maybe you will be surprised that the 3 million people in the rallies for defending secularism most of them were women
Bronze, İzmir, Turkey
No one tries to ban her freedom.In contrast women are trying to gain their freedom.The aim of wearing headscarf is to make a woman free from others looks which saves the women from abusement as an object.The fear that if Islamists gain power in Turkey they would force women to wear headscarves is totaly invalid.Islam does not allow such an obligation.Also AKP goverment in Turkey would not make such a change.They are in thead of the state for 4 years and nothing has changed in terms of this subject.
sena, istanbul,
Every institution, every country, every place have rules. As I cannot enter in a public institution with my bikini on, you cannot enter with your headscarf! The women who wear headscarfs can live freely, without any imposition in today's secular Turkey, but I don't believe that we(secularists) could live freely, if they dominate Turkey. And the ones who make comments without having any knowledge about Turkey, the issues are not as simple as you think. Rules are stated as a consequences of experiences. The rule for the ban of headscarf in public institutions is the result of abusement. Today, in Iran women are trying to have their freedoms' while in Turkey they are trying to ban their own freedoms'!
Sinem, Leicester, UK
Let Turkey be preserved as a secular state and Islam be nothing more than a religion that does not control the entire peoples of Turkey.
Jennika, NY, NY, U.S.A.
This article is based on many suspicious assumptions.It is a pity to read such articles in Time which claims itself as an objective newspaper.In case of Turkey this discussion is not new and unfortunately it doesn't seem to end.In fact the problem is very simple there is a group of women who wears headscarfs as a part of their belief system and an opponent group who does not want to see these women in "public space" that means they dont let these women to live what they believe.Is our beliefs and practising it's requirements questionable by others?
sena, istanbul,
Want to find the borders? Go and live in one of the headscarf-dominated neighborhoods and then invite your boy friend to spend a couple of days with you. Kiss him on the street. Then you will find out how much they value personal freedom.
Blue mosque is a magnificant structure everybody must see. However, if you are a woman you should wear a headscarf. Freedom? Maybe outside their realm.
nyoped, new york / istanbul,
People who aren't Muslim, don't wear head scarf or belong to any other ideologies should be respectful to others who does.Because it's solely a choice.Any one can't no judge anyone due to their individual private choices.A muslim woman with head scraf should live independently as other Muslim without headscarf. Independency,democracy requires this.However, in Turkey many secular groups under democracy guise, spoiling mercilessly by making propaganda againist headscarfed woman. I want to ask: is it real democracy? It's apperantly paradoxial that you will say that you're democratic and also you will abondon people who do not espouse your ideas.Yes, these are all realities of Turkey for 84 years and still continuing. 84 years ago after the collapse of Ottoman Empire Turkey was confronted with two dilemma westernisation and Islamisation as a result of history administrative reforms in 1839(Tanzimat) and preferred westernization residing on ideology of kemalism.So, tradegy arise from her
Hacer, Istanbul, Turkey
Head scarf is not only separating the face of a lady from public but a sign of widening gulf between different classes. Secular Generals are trying to snatch that peace of cloth from the face of women to pave the way for “talibanization” in turkey. I’ll remind them of the Golden rule “treat others as you wish to be treated by others”. We need a balance in between the rights of individual and that of population. Can’t we look at the issue in the following context “The only freedom which deserves its name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it”. (Mill JS 1806-73)“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will, is to prevent harm to others”. (Mill JS 1806-73) the Army is interfering in the “dignity” and “rights” of individuals These “Generals” are basically responsible for causing hatred against west in Musli
Dr umar farooq, Quetta , Pakistan
I' m glad that a world wide newspaper touched the headscarf issue in Turkey and let world hear about the big imequity going on for about eigthy years in this country. I' m glad because I know that world is not informed about the situations a headscatved women are in in Turkey. This country has a mostly muslim population but if a muslim women prefers to be a theacher in her country she has no right to perform her job with her headscarf. the same thing is true for nearly every public institutions in this country. And also she is not allowed to have her education in the university with her headscatf. She can not be a lawyer, a judge, a journalist in many media companies, a television spearker, a deputy, a doctor, a nurse, a civil servant, a student, a theacher, a secretary in most of the companies ..... etc. If she wants to have a job in any institution in her country she should take her headscarf out. That is only because she wants to live according to her lifestyle.
Sevim, Istanbul,
It is correct that Turkey is not just Istanbul but the statistics about 62% of the Turkish women's being headscarved is close to truth. Yet, until today none of our first-ladies was headscarved (by the way, no headscarved women reacted against that). so, do you think a headscarved woman is not elligible to represent the Turkish women? and if so, why not? let me guess: because headscarf is a symbol of Islam from which the Republican elites have been trying to get rid of for 84 years although most of the population is muslim! so, we have governing elites on the one side and the people on the other. a second question: which one is more beliavable: the Republican elites (I accent the word "elites") is against AKP because they will try to turn Turkey into an Islamic country and force Islamic life-style OR because Republican elites will lose their advantaged class position with all their priviliges if AKP comes to power?
hilal, Istanbul, Turkey
the main problem focused on the issue of headscarf comes from ignorance. this ban has been stigmatizing veiled women and now it reaced to the top. today on the streets many women are subject to harrasment. if someone see headscarves as flags, I may say it s a result of the ban. and no one wants to see the borders of it. let s talk about the women have been excluded from their works and schools since 1997 in turkey. I m not even talking about today, because at the end young women tend not to even try to go to school just because of it. and can we concluded as veiled women are the main threat to system in turkey but men dont..? we should give some concrete examples on that, if we blame people for sth. dont try to guess what is inside peoples mind! please just try to see the results.. please go to turkey for even only 24 hours and try to go to a library, a school, a hospital or even walk on some streets with your headscarf on.. it can be a good experiment to see the borders.. suggest you.
mariam, cologne, germany
Of course you will find a large percentage of women in the Fatih district wearing a headscarf, it is after all a very well known Muslim neighbourhood and if my memory serves me right, the ONLY Istanbul neighbourhood where I, as a western woman would not have ventured alone.
Do try and be at least a little fair - Istanbul is an enormous city and the Fatih neighbourhood is not representative of the entire city. Just the other side of the Bosphorus in Kadikoy for example you'll find fashionable clothes shops, beauty salons and shoe shops to rival any found in London.
Alexandra, Cologne,
Once again Times have printed an article which is completely biased.
"Yet nobody at the ADD is able to name a single law promoted by the AK party that challenges the country’s secularism."
"...Narli, the sociology professor, tossing back her long, highlighted hair with red manicured nails to match her red high heels"
You will keep getting such articles if you send totally ignorant writers with no knowledge of Turkey's past, who decide they know Turkey after they speak to a few people in the street in the course of 48 hours in Istanbul.
MV Tekdag, Brentwood, Essex
It is absolutely ridiculous to claim %62 of Turkish women wear the headscarf, quoting some radical Islamist "foundation". It is widely acknowledged that about %20 actually cover their head.
If anything, people need to understand that there is no secular "elite" in Turkey ruling over masses of deeply religious Muslims. The seculars of Turkey are the majority, and millions of people with flags have proved that .
These people with head scarves are radical Islamists. Their only agenda is to be able to study and work in universities and public buildings so in time it will be the norm for women to cover their heads everywhere.
However they are a very small minority. Even in the remotest villages, you will have the majority of people who drink occasionally and not attend mosques every friday.
Do not pity these radicals. These headscarves are something very new. I have my grandma's pictures in 1933 when they were wearing short shorts during Republic Day parades to prove it.
Mehmet Kara, Istanbul, Turkey
The hidden world of the profane is barely below the surface. A ten billion dollar porn industry? The west, escpecially America, is wallowing in this filth. Of course, we aren't modern unless we allow nearly born babies to have their brains sucked out, or other equally detestable practices. The scarf, especially when worn voluntarily, reminds these degenerates that these freedoms are detestable practices to any sane individual. Let people wear a rag on their head or not. Turkey will soon suffer for this foolish ban.
marc, albany, usa
It's a shame that a square piece of cloth can make so many feel insecure. Democracy means to respect people of their choice and not be against modesty. Any Muslim women with self dignity and respect would rather choose by free will to wear a head scarf . She is making a statement of pride and honor.This is not about freedom and democracy this is about consumerism industry that wants to control women through their products. Muslim women with the scarf are turning their backs to them by their own free will. I pity the women who are slaves of the men who control the fashion industry, telling women what to wear and how to look and think they are free.
One more comment the police in Turkey attacking Labour Day march has nothing to do with Islam. This is a secular Army remember
Sakina Husain, Ypsilanti, MI. USA
this is a great article. in Turkey the civil and military bureaucracy sees its own citizens as a threat and limit their freedom. the bureaucracy has much more power than the elected government and uses it againts the people. iran's religious mullahs and turkey's secular mullahs are different in orientation but have the same mentality that is to involve in people's life and to limit their freedom.
ahmet, istanbul,
In this report is stated that almost all the women on the busy Istanbul street were wearing headscarves. I don't know which street our reporter was on but I visit Istanbul on a regular basis and most women that I see are not wearing scarves at all. I expected this to be the case on my first visit but it simply was not the case.
This type of reporting reminds me of the articles released before the invasion of Afganistan when the evil Taliban,( and evil they indeed were), forced all women to hide themselves completely and now that this regime has been toppled many women still choose to be dressed so! A fine example of westen European reporting on an Oriental land from a very western viewpoint !
O'Looney, Bucharest,
what i see is the western thinking that a headscarf is simply a choice of a person and not important enough to intervene by others..i do not accept that.it symbolises-and why it`s worn by the people ,makeno mistake about this!-the supression of women,basic human rights of freedom of speech,faith,destruction of secularism in any muslim countries and nothing else.the west still are asleep about the real intentions of these so called militant islamists,having made them rich by supporting regimes like Saudis,Iran,one time Iraq and others around the globe for no other reason then exploiting their oil and giving them the mushroom treatmen for so long now those mushrooms became strong trees.so a scarf is not just a scarf but a potent symbol of what goes totally opposite to human endevour; Freedom of individual,speech,faith and democracy of being able to vote!make no mistake about this or ot `ll be the last one ever made by the west!
Alex Carr, london,
The problem with Islam is that it successfully did what Christianity didn't succeed in doing, creating a theocracy based on the desert beduin ethos, advocating conquest and pillage (razzias). While this was fine in the High Middle Ages, this won't succeed in the modern world. It also explain the 800 years decline of Islamic civilization, which began when the Mullahs and Ulema declared that the gates of Ijtihad (independent interpretation) were closed (XIth century). Since, there were no new interpretation of Islam which could be made. Islam had no Luther or Calvin and goes on with beduin interdictions and tribal nonsense.
Islam hasn't 400 years to trash it out, like Christianity did. So I believe it won't be able to survive its brush with modernity. It will go in a sea of blood... The result of a closed systenm that couldn't adapt.
Patricia Beauvais, New York City, USA
UK politicos and commentators all line up very much pro headscarfery, the sign of a hard line Muslilm who favours clericalist rule. France is with Turkey, so should we be. Enough of all this falsity. Islam is deepening and spreading, it should westernise and accommodate to Eurpean secular government. Women like your doctor should go to Islamic societies if they like that better.
This is a real warning to the UK and EU - Islam must accommodate to Europe, not vice versa.
Aya, Homerton, UK
I think there is a problem to be clearified. Islam says in quran(Nur 31. verse) that women shouldn't show their beauties to anyone else but their husband.This verse is reasoned because of moral values such as cheating their partners which is westerners true people generally worry about.Wearing headscarf can come exaggerating to my european friends however it is relative.In todays world it might be exaggerating because westerner are surpassed theirself by taking the age of virginity to single character(below 10).To my view, who is a true muslim should use headscarf but it can be some other styles like a hat which is doing the same mission also smarter.
As for subject, I think people must be free whatever they wear.State shouldnt define any side on that subject.Iran shouldnt force women wear headscarf while turkey shouldnt force to remove it.Both of them are dictation. Actually it is very simple however when it is up to stupid politician it is a mess up.
Murat, istanbul,
Banning people from or forcing poeple to do something according to an ideal is like mastering a dictatorship.
Modernisation does not mean transforming into western culture. It simply means adapt according to material need with a reason, ie we don't raze a city to build a new one but "only" building new buildings on top of redundant buildings.
Chang, Taipei, Taiwan
As a Response To Craig;
First of all can you provide me where you got an elderly man is killed during 1 May,please?Total balance is in taksim 23 injured,22 is injured lightly.Plus, this guys who are rioting during 1 may are doing vandalism almost every year by attacking to shops,cars so on...And they dont need to get a permit from government somehow.So this is the democracy to passivate these people in my opinion. The most important point is that how could you get this point with islam. This act is done by a secular government. If you say so, christians must be responsable from what us doing in guetamala,iraq..This not fair.Events in malatya, i dont think these events are carried out personnaly to me done by some emperalist power to cause problem to Turkey.Today, orthodox head church residing in Turkey,christians are able to live their religions.This is a proof that turks always respect to anyone personally.
Murat, istanbul,
As a Christian in the United States, I fear what Islam stands for due to what I see as the many interpretations of the Koran. The Christian faith has the same problem with the many interpretations of the Bible however; the Christian faith does not kill for non-belief. I see no problem with a headscarf but it has become a distinct sign of the Islamic faith just as the Cross is that of the Christian faith and the Swastika became the symbol of a nation ruled by a satanic lunatic. The secular society in the United States as a rule, does not prohibit the wearing of a cross yet, there is the separation of Church and State when the symbols become offensive to others as the Christian symbol has and in some areas has been banned. It tears my soul that this has happened to a country that was founded on Judeo-Christian laws. Many nations, over the years, have been conquered by nations of other faiths creating havoc for those that believed in a certain way. Look at what is going on in many African nations that are now being besieged by Islamic Fascist, killing hundreds of thousands of non-believers. All religions have had and still have their murderers killing in the name of their religion but one of the most important commandants of God is “Thou shalt not kill.” Killing is being disobedient to one of God’s Laws. Do these murderers not see that they face the wrath of God?
The Ladies in Turkey that want to wear the scarf should wear it according to the laws of Turkey, not the misinterpretations of the Koran.
Binky, Charlotte, United States
I am English and have been living in Fethiye, Turkey for the last 6 years.
From what I can see and hear in the major towns and cities where most people are more sophisticated and cosmopolitan the women are predominantly not headscarf wearers. In the villages and rural areas where the peasants live and probably their major source of news and guidance is the mosque they almost all are headscarf wearers. So it is a split between the uneducated peasants and the educated urbanites.
I think I am right in saying that Ataturk, the founding father of modern Turkey was influenced and impressed by the French after the 1st World War and decided to keep religion out of politics, realising the menace it is. Hence the secular state.
Pity about my own country though, that has been destroyed and sold out to our Asian muslim 'friends'.
Michael Sullvan, Fethiye, Turkey.
Michael Sullivan, Fethiye, Turkey
Isnt this just further proof that Islam and democracy simply don't work together? Where in the Muslim world is there a country without bribery, torture and human rights abuse? As a body of ideas , as a philosophy Islam oppresses women and denies society basic human rights. Last week a Labour Day march was so savagely attacked by the Turkish poice that one elderly man died and many others were injured. This follows the murder in Malatya of 3 Christians and last years shooting of a Catholic priest in Trabzon. When will Europe wake up to the threat of Islam?
Craig, Istanbul, Turkey
The secularists are forcing their views on other people. How is that different from any religious fundamentalist? I think people should be able to choose by themselves.
I am also appalled by the European Human Rights court which upheld the headscarf ban. Its a shame, and a disgrace that forcing religious views (or lack thereof) on to people is stamped with an OK from a so called Human Rights Court.
MSS, Oslo, Norway
My girlfriend is Turkish, she lives in a city in the Eastern Anatolia, and I've never heard or seen a thing such as 60% of the turkish women wearing a headscarf. That is plainly a lie; anyone who travels there can check it. 33% of them and being EXTREMELY generous would be much more accurate.
It is also amazing -to say the least- to see an article in a Western European newspaper defending the right of Islam to intertwine with the government of a democratic country. Poor Ayse, having a good education, should question herself about if her wearing the headscarf is truly a free decision or the imprint of an Islamic upbringing.
Türkiye is investing a huge amount of resources, time and effort to keep religion away from power, the same struggle we've had in Europe for centuries. Should we let the Pope dictate the course of politics of our nations again? Then let's support the turkish people to keep religion away from power.
Alfredo Sanchez, Madrid, Spain
The secularists are forcing their views on other people. How is that different from any religious fundamentalist? I think people should be able to choose by themselves.
I am also appalled by the European Human Rights court which upheld the headscarf ban. Its a shame, and a disgrace that forcing religious views (or lack thereof) on to people is stamped with an OK from a so called Human Rights Court.
MSS, Oslo, Norway
Freedom of religion and religious expression are human rights upheld by liberal democracy. Why should these women be punished for religious beliefs? Isn't that what democracy is about? I just can't believe the racism I'm reading on this forum. You people complain that Muslim nations aren't democratic but when Muslims try to exercise democracy you complain. Why don't you just admit you hate Muslims because they are Muslims and stop hiding behind the mantra that you guys care about human rights since obviously you could care less. It's absurd to think Turkey will become another Iran. The Turks are smart enough to learn their lessons and also they have have made Turkey eligible for EU membership. I just can't believe the EU courts upheld the ban on the hijab. I bet if there was button to make all Muslims disappear you'd all press it. The hypocrisy dumbfounds me and it makes me sick to the stomach. It was never about democracy, you think its still 1187 AD
Mohammad, Albany, USA
The head scarf they are trying to wear or legalise in Turkey is very different to the one my grandmother used to wear in Turkey.
The one they are trying to legalise is the one that has been imported from Saudi`s Wahhabi islam which is intolerant and backward.
No one ever said anything against that of what my grandmother and the many others wore and still wear today.However what is put infront of us now as a simple piece of clothing has some sinister idealogical view that tolerates no other.That is why I and many other turks are nervous to certain extent angry with the attempts that undermies our countries Secularist structure.If Turkey were not a secularist country it would probably be another Iran.That is not we want never mind what the rest of the world wants.
Isa, Reading, UK
unfortunatley alot of people do not understand islam even muslims whatever they were seculars or ultra islamists people seculars think that islam is not able for our modern life i want to ask them about the civilization of muslims in palermo and spain there were no conflicts between relegion and science or politics seculars are trying to compare with the church in europe and islamic system in this era the chruch was forbbiding medicine while had made great contributions in medicine on the othe hand why seculars in turkey refuse headscarf is not a personal thing and freedom one of the main important principle of the secular theory
ahmed amir, cairo , egypt
We should support the secularists in Turkey and stop allowing those women who wear their political agenda on their heads to come to the West! Why should we pay to educate them at our universities? Why should we give them jobs? Lets give those opportunities to women or men who are in favor of democracy and modernity (there are enough poor countries in the world ... ).
l.karremans, heusden, Belgium
Whether or not a woman wears a head-scarf ought to be a matter of choice based on weather conditions. The fact that this simple item of clothing has been hi-jacked by islam whould make the rest of us laugh. Why don't they invent Islamic knickers? Knee-length and made of green sack-cloth. Then every woman could make a private choice of whether or not to wear them and no-one else would be any the wiser.
Adrian Gilbert, Tonbridge, England
Any chance the Turkish Army can be persuaded to come and work their secular magic over here in the U.K. as well?
John R. Walker, Caernarvon, U.K.
Mansoor of Tehran - I totally agree with you.
Secular Turkish Muslim women cover their heads during payers but not in public life - unless it is a regional and practical custom to cover heads. in nearby countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy it is customary for country folk to wear headscarves regardless of religious beliefs.
Political Islamists have hijacked the religion and morality with their 'holier than thou' attitudes and attire. They have been using the 'human rights' card to manipulate western people and the 'religion' card to manipulate Turkish people.
Enough is enough.
Mimi, Brighton, UK
If you want freedom - live like a westerner
If you want religious subjugation go East
I know where I, and funnily enough most moslems want to live.
Educated women who wear headscarfs are not educated at all.
Fred, Dubai, Dubai
When are people going to realise that to call or identify your self as something separates you from everybody else. To follow the dictates of ANY religion identifies people without minds of their own. There is no excuse for following the behavior conditioned in us by others and that applies especially for religion so the guy is right she does not want to work.
Syd McLeod, Townsville , Australia
Those people who say AK party tries to turn Turkiye into Iran don't have a clue about what's been going on in this country! Be honest and realistic when criticising.
And "Yet outside on a busy Istanbul street, almost every woman passing is wearing a headscarf." is wrong too. It's wrong to make such a big (false) generalisation that might mislead people. This country does have some problems but we as a nation are very tolerant and hopeful and tied to our cultural, historical background and laws influenced by Ataturk. Governments come and go but we'll still have the same values we inherited.
Merve, Samsun, Turkey
There is no doubt that the headscarf is a political statement.
I have noticed a substantial increase in women wearing headscarves at my local bank and in the U.K generally.
It is actually not part of Islam,merely a distorted and degrading interpretation.
The Turkish army is correct to uphold the secularist state that was the foundation of Ataturk's modern Turkey.
Religion has no right in telling people what to wear.
Look at Iran where the religious police force men to wear their hairstyle in a certain way.
Civilisation is advancing whether or not the men in turbans want it.
Turkey cannot possibly enter Europe until there is true and uncontested separation of church and state.
To allow it entry any earlier would be sheer folly and a Trojan Horse for Political Islam to spread its cancer.
J.Currie, London, U.K
im a Turkish Muslim and i totally agree with John USA
res, mlbourne, australia
The Turks and other Islamic countries have to decide if they want to move forward or hang around 613AD. Rest assured when the oil runs out from the frontiers of Turkey to the east, we'll be past caring. No doubt we'll have plenty of our own problems to worry about. Meantime, you can complain about our corrupt policies and selfish interests, but it's nothing compared to the uber corruption of your Islamic states (er, Saudi Arabic, Lebanon, Egypt, etc.) Maybe that's why everyone from just about every Islamic country would give their right hand to live in Europe or the US, Mr Afghan included? Personally, I'm amazed we continue to let you guys in when your beliefs are obviously several hundred years behind those that we have fought over for centuries including two world wars. Church & state doesn't work. We should know. Let's give Islam a few hundred more years to figure it out for themselves. And if you don't like Europe's secular democracies, why are you living here?
Tim, Madrid, Spain
I am pretty sure that Turkish military personnel's wife also wear hijab. it takes only one to revolt and produce ripple effect! I am sure secularists are looking after their corrupt policies and their selfish interests.
Afghan, London,
This problem demonstrates the folly of Turkey being allowed to join the Eueopean Union; there would be a high probability of a muslim state within Europe, a state advocating muslim principles which are detrimental to human rights and which are contrary to European Union laws.
Furthermore a Turkey as part of Europe would result in the States like Iraq and Iran having direct borders with Europe!
Grant, Scarsdale NY, USA
Religion should be a private thing.
Men remove their hats upon entering a building, women should remove their head coverings as well.
The women that "can't" work because of the head-scarf issue ares CHOOSING not to work. They can blame themselves for trying to FORCE others to recognise their religion, while those others don't shove their religion in their scarf-wearing co-workers faces.
It is strange to see college educated people act like un-educated people. They should know better.
JohnUSA, Richmond, VA/USA
Chill out Turkey's securalists, I can't see the AK party Islamifying Turkey at all and you are doing to your country is no justice at all in the eyes of us Westerners. Currently oppressing women by not allowing them to wear a headscarf is a political crime and I hope that secular turks realise that this is about human rights here. We in the UK well tolerate it so why can't you ?
Ian Smith, Leeds, UK
Turks has a genuine reason to be afraid of political Islam. For 28 years, the same thing has ravaged my country in the east neighborhood of Turkey. In Iran, ruling faction came through the same door AK party is now trying to pass and then they betrayed their people. They came with innocent-looking Islamic agenda while promising the right of others, they grew by grasping all public institutions especially those which suppose to safeguard civil liberties and they ended up with violent and brutal prosecution of all liberal voices. It is very easy for political Islam to become violent and ignorant of the right of others, including those who want religion to remain as a private belief and not to be enforced in public. The fight is not just for a piece of garment...it is to make sure history does not repeat itself, this time in Turkey.
Mansoor, Tehran, Iran
Wearing a headscarf is a lifestyle choice, so she has prioritised headscarf wearing over public employment in Turkey. It's her decision.
Why should we care?
G Gardner, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
My girlfriend is Turkish, she lives in a city in the Eastern Anatolia, and I've never heard or seen a thing such as 60% of the turkish women wearing a headscarf. That is plainly a lie; anyone who travels there can check it. 33% of them and being EXTREMELY generous would be much more accurate.
It is also amazing -to say the least- to see an article in a Western European newspaper defending the right of Islam to intertwine with the government of a democratic country. Poor Ayse, having a good education, should question herself about if her wearing the headscarf is truly a free decision or the imprint of an Islamic upbringing.
Türkiye is investing a huge amount of resources, time and effort to keep religion away from power, the same struggle we've had in Europe for centuries. Should we let the Pope dictate the course of politics of our nations again? Then let's support the turkish people to keep religion away from power.
Alfredo Nieto, Madrid, Spain
The best most ballanced article I have read by a non-Turk.
david, istanbul, turkey
it seems some groups within Turkey are just paranoid to such a degree that it is frightening. May be Turkey should not be looking at secularism as the answer, but liberalism- this way Turkey can be everything for everyone.
fu kwai, Middletom, Uk