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Many Turks are proud of their country's modern, secular tradition. At least for now, by law, no religion is allowed to dominate or shape the activities or policies of the government, the legal sector or the education system. Turkey's army has long been regarded as a supporter of the secular state. A separation of church and state in government and society will be a major factor the European Union will pay attention to if the day ever comes when Turkey is considered for membership in the continental club.
Recently, however, the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gül proposed rewriting Turkey's constitution. Erdogan and Gül represent the Justice and Development Party (AKP), a political organization with Islamist roots. In revising the national charter, Erdogan has indicated that he "want[s] to lift the ban on the Islamic headscarf in [Turkish] universities...." Reason: The PM says, "The right to higher education cannot be restricted because of what a girl wears. There is no such problem in Western societies, but there is a problem in Turkey, and I believe it is the first duty of those in politics to solve the problem." (Reuters) Notes the BBC: The proposed new constitution "describes women as a vulnerable group needing protection."
Apparently, many Turks believe the "problem" Erdogan has cited is one he has made up. Potentially, it "could reignite tensions with Turkey's powerful secular elite, including army generals, which suspects him of wanting to boost the role of religion" in the government and in society. "The secularists regard the headscarf as a symbolic threat to Turkey's separation of state and religion. They also fear any lifting of the ban would put social pressure on uncovered women to start wearing the headscarf in overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey." In response, the AKP refers to the wearing of the Islamic headscarf as "a question of freedom of expression and notes that the garment was only banned from university campuses in 1982 after a military coup."
A recent Radio Netherlands news report noted that by proposing to remove the ban on the wearing of headscarves at universities, Erdogan is arguing that the new charter will protect his fellow Turks' "universal right to education." The Dutch news service reported: "Two years ago, the European Human Rights Court...ruled that the ban was not a violation of women's rights." In doing so, "the court sided with those who regard the ban as essential to protecting the secular state....But the political sands have shifted in Turkey. To the Erdogan government, headscarves do not symbolize the fight for an Islamic state, but religious freedom. However, he intends to include a ban on burkas [head-to-toe garments that cover women's faces] to placate his opponents, but strict secularists and the army keep insisting that the prime minister has a hidden agenda to establish an Islamic state in Turkey modeled on Iran."
So far, in Turkey, "[m]ore than 80 women's groups have come together to voice strong opposition to the draft constitution, calling it a major step backwards for equal rights." The country's current constitution "obliges the government to ensure equality for all - a clause that women's groups fought hard to include." But the proposed new document removes that provision. One women's-rights activist in Turkey said: "If the government accepts this, it will show their ideology and mindset about women and men - that women are a group that needs to be protected." (BBC)
The Economist notes that Erdogan has indicated that, although he wants to revise the national constitution, "he has no immediate plans to get rid of article 301 of the penal code, which was used to prosecute various writers, including Orhan Pamuk, for 'insulting Turkishness.' But keeping article 301, say opponents, just confirms that [AKP] is interested only in promoting Islam and defanging the army." The British newsmagazine quotes a former army prosecutor in Turkey who remarked that the "government remains 'selective about democracy.'"
On what the government may or may not do regarding the controversial headscarf issue, Erdogan last month commented: "We have to trust each other. We need to try and understand each other. We are in the position of needing to prove our shared values all around." |
