Middle East

After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of WWI, Turkey under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal (later Ataturk) became a republican parliamentary democracy in 1923. The Kemalism that followed called for sweeping changes within Turkish society that included “republicanism, nationalism, populism, reformism, secularism, state capitalism and economic development” (Held 2014, p.611). In a nutshell, Turkey was to modernize and become more “European” in its economic and cultural outlook. This led to several dramatic changes for the Turkish people including the adoption of the Roman alphabet instead of the Arabic alphabet and clothing too was altered. The fez was abandoned for the European style cap and the veil was also forbidden for Turkish women. Kemal had by his death in 1938 completely overhauled Turkey into a secular country. Today his policies are still used to justify liberal policy in the country.

     This stance was particularly helpful for the West. Bill Clinton in 2004 describes the US-Turkey relationship as “one of a handful of countries whose future course would have a large impact on the twentieth-century world” (Clinton 2004, pp. 876-7). What he meant was that Turkey with its Western leaning approach would be a bulwark against Islamic extremism. In Turkey itself, since coming to power in 2002 Prime Minister Erdogan has “presided over an economic boom that has trebled Turkey’s per capita income and unleashed entrepreneurship” (Ghosh 2012, p.28). He is seen as being similar in his charisma and determination as Kemal, but has been able to include Islam into the equation and is able to modernize without breaking away from Islam. Ghosh says many in the Middle East would “cite Erdogan as the kind of leader they would like to have instead [of their current leader]” (p. 28). President Obama has called him a “great leader…the West’s idea of the ideal Islamist” (pp. 28-9).

     Why, with all this secular, Western lifestyle is the head scarf still such a politically charged issue in Turkey? Finkel (2012), calls the issue “equivalent to the US debate on gun control” (p. 168). 11 – 15% of Turkish women wear the headscarf for religious reasons (Finkel p. 170). Although women have been able to wear the headscarf in public for many years, they had not been allowed to wear them in government buildings or universities. This had raised many issues, protests and demonstrations by women who wanted to show respect for their religion or who wanted to assert their free speech rights, a kind of amalgamation of secular and religious interests. The law “has kept many women from joining the public work force, [although] secularists see its abolition as evidence of the government pushing an Islamic agenda” (Pamuk, 2013). In October 2013 when the ban was overturned, Prime Minister Erdogan and his Islamist AK Party said a dark period of Turkish history had come to an end; that this was just “redressing the balance and restoring freedom of religious expression to a Muslim majority” (Pamuk 2013). Understandably such a highly charged issue has also its detractors. The opposition calls it an eroding of the secular principles put forward by Kemal and "These policies ... show not only the government's attitudes to women but also its understanding of freedoms," said Sezgin Tanrikulu, deputy head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), which was founded by Ataturk” (Pamuk, 2013). Finkel (2012) calls it “creeping fundamentalism” (p. 168).

     Is this just a relaxing of a policy that secularized Turkey is perhaps a little uncomfortable with, a further barrier to free expression broken down or is it a means of further (male) control and Islamization of Turkey? Looking through videos on YouTube, the impression is that women want to wear the hijab for religious reasons. What is not clear is if this is for unadulterated religious reasons or under more conservative community pressure to conform. The majority of secular Turkish women will probably never cover their heads but more conservatively religious women should not be denied any hope of improving their lives and skill set because they cover their heads. If there is supposedly equality between the sexes, it should the woman’s choice and therefore ought not to be an issue. It seems that the decision should be personal choice.

     In some areas of the world, Afghanistan for example burqas are required to go out in the community. In the US hijabs and burqas can be worn. In Europe, France for example, has banned the wearing of a burqa or niqab (which covers the face except the eyes). A recent case at the European Court of Human Rights upheld the ban. Belgium has similar laws and in the UK, defendants need to lift the veil to give evidence in court. In France, “veils are seen as degrading to women, an affront to France’s secular traditions, and a security risk as they prevent the accurate identification of individuals” (Weekly Telegraph, July 9th – 15th 2014). Wearing a hijab however seems acceptable in these countries. In Turkey wearing a headscarf for religious reasons is acceptable as long as it is in the interests of freedom of religion and self-expression, not a coercion or a return to fundamentalist/extreme religious ideals. If there is freewill involved, secularism can withstand the change (80% of women do not wear it according to Finkel, 2012) and there is not a crisis of identity. In fact secular Turks say the head scarf is a “traditional” aspect of Turkish life. It is not seen as a threat (Finkel 2012, p. 170). That this is a cultural issue that only affects women makes some in Turkey wonder whether if it affected men perhaps it might have not taken so long to remedy. If overturning of the ban turns out to be more sinister in its intent, such as male domination or religious fundamentalism, the decision to wear a head scarf could be a symptom of something much more serious.

Sources

Clinton, W.J., (2004). My Life Bill Clinton. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Finkel, A. (2012). Turkey: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Ghosh, B., (2012). The New Middle East, After the Arab Spring a Different World Unfolds. New York, NY: Time Books.

Held, C. C., & Cummings J. T. (2014). Middle East Patterns. Places, Peoples and Politics. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

France’s burka ban doesn’t breach rights, rules Strasbourg, p. 17, Weekly Telegraph. July 9th – 15th 2014. London, UK

Retrieved July 16th from http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/08/us-turkey-headscarf-ban-idUSBRE99708720131008 Humeyra Pamuk, Repeal of Headscarf Ban

Retrieved July 16th from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRy_F08kMQM&feature=related Hijab Cruelty in Turkey