headscarf controversy in turkey

[ChiangMai noon]

The constitutional court in Turkey has overuled the Government's decision to allow women to wear headscarves in universities.

Have to say, didn't realise the government had ruled this in the first place.

headscarves haven't been allowed in unis for I don't know how many years.
always seemed to be taking secularism a bit far to me.

Turkey headscarf ruling attacked
Islamic demonstrators protest against a head scarf ban in Istanbul, Turkey, 6 June
Crowds took to the streets on Friday to protest against the court's decision

Turkey's ruling AK Party has attacked the Constitutional Court over a ruling on headscarves.

The court blocked moves which would have allowed headscarves to be worn at universities. Judges said the move violated Turkey's secular principles.

But AK Party deputy chairman Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat said the court had itself breached the constitution.

He said it was authorised only to examine laws passed by parliament, not rule on their contents.

He was speaking after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan chaired a six-hour emergency meeting of top party members.

"The decision is a direct interference with parliament's authority," said Mr Firat. "It is a violation of the rule on the separation of powers."

Secular cornerstone

Hundreds of people, many of them women in headscarves, protested in several cities across Turkey on Friday to express their anger at the court's move.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish press divided over ruling
Turkish leaders face tense summer

The court said the government's move to overturn the ban violated the constitution's secular principles.

The ruling could foreshadow the outcome of a case in which the AK Party could be banned, correspondents say.

Turkey's chief prosecutor says the ruling AKP is "the focal point of anti-secular activities" and is seeking to have it disbanded.

Some 71 members of the party, including the prime minister and the president, could also be banned from belonging to a political party for five years.

The prosecution case cites the constitutional amendment allowing girls to wear headscarves to university as evidence that the AK Party - which has its roots is Islamists, has an anti-secular agenda.

The government argues that banning headscarves at colleges stops many Muslim girls being educated and says it is a matter of personal freedom.

The Turkish press agreed that the ruling upholding the headscarf ban had been Mr Erdogan's "greatest political defeat" since the AKP came to power in 2002.

Some within the AKP believe members will have to set up a new party only a year after it won a convincing poll victory, says the BBC's David O'Byrne in Istanbul.

[good2bhappy]

What happerns if you are not a Muslim?

[Mr Earl]

^you go to hell.

[sabang]

Turkish women are often beautiful, so I'm not sorry they keep their headscarves off. Not sure if the judiciary is overstepping it's mark legislating this though- they certainly wouldn't get away with it in the UK.

[ChiangMai noon]

Not sure if the judiciary is overstepping it's mark legislating this though- they certainly wouldn't get away with it in the UK.

they haven't been allowed to wear headscarves in uni or parliament since Ataturk's day.

think many people don't realise how much Turkey has forced it's secularism on the people.

[dobella]

people don't realise how much Turkey has forced it's secularism on the people.

and they are poised to join the EU very shortly.
scary, very scary.
i am not anti muslim, but if everyone cannot see we have fundamental
differences of tollerance then i see the nothing but conflict.

[jandajoy]

people don't realise how much Turkey has forced it's secularism on the people.

and they are poised to join the EU very shortly.
scary, very scary.
i am not anti muslim, but if everyone cannot see we have fundamental
differences of tollerance then i see the nothing but conflict.

They may be poised but I don't think it's going to happen any day soon.

[Sir Burr]

Attaturk is revered in Turkey as the King is revered here.
Attaturk literally dragged a defeated and backward country kicking and screaming into the 20th century. He was an ardent secularist and the army has always guarded his memory and his legacy.

[jandajoy]

Seriously though, are they that attractive?

[ChiangMai noon]

Seriously though, are they that attractive?

pound for pound the most attractive girls in the world in my opinion.

[attaboy]

What is the reason for wearing it? The modern reason is an expression of modesty. But its roots are subjugation and oppression.

The headscarf is not a fashion trend. For me it represents a backward step in the direction of the subjugation of and the oppression of women. It's a symbol of intolerance. It's a warning of what's coming. The fundamentalists see it as a public fair warning and if you tolerate it then you accept what's coming. Asking that women be allowed to wear the scarf in government institutions is asking to get the foot in the door. Proponents of the headscarf are asking that others tolerate their intolerance.

[Sir Burr]

Don't see what the problem is, as long as it is voluntary and not forced on anyone.

[attaboy]

^ That's the problem. Can you ask people if they are voluntarily wearing the scarf?

To think that a person would have to consider asking the question of a woman says that the head scarf is a problem for democracy's existence.

[sabang]

^ That's the problem. Can you ask people if they are voluntarily wearing the scarf?

Can you ask people if they're voluntarily not wearing a scarf?

[attaboy]

What threat does not wearing the scarf pose to democracy?

Will there be any pressure for women to wear Islamic clothing in a society where Islamic clothing is seen as means of following a political/theological ideology resulting in a separation/division within the society? a separation between the modest ones and immodest ones ? or believers vs non-believers? Yes I think so.


Can present Turkish society survive the separation wished for by the fundamentalists? I don't know. Given the fervor and conviction of the fundamentalists I have doubts.

[sabang]

What threat does not wearing the scarf pose to democracy?

Does wearing a scarf constitute a threat to Democracy? My late Grandma, who was rather fond of them, didn't think so. And she was no fan of Islam.

[DrB0b]

people don't realise how much Turkey has forced it's secularism on the people.

and they are poised to join the EU very shortly.
scary, very scary.
i am not anti muslim, but if everyone cannot see we have fundamental
differences of tollerance then i see the nothing but conflict.

What? Secularism means non-religious, being a secular state hardly counts against EU membership, quite the oposite - it's a major plus. What does count against Turkey's membership of the EU is its appalling Human Rights record.

[sabang]

^ I think the average Euro is more concerned about their appalling soccer yobs DrB.

[attaboy]

What threat does not wearing the scarf pose to democracy?

Does wearing a scarf constitute a threat to Democracy? My late Grandma, who was rather fond of them, didn't think so. And she was no fan of Islam.

So your grandmother was Turkish and resided in Turkey?

[DrB0b]

^ I think the average Euro is more concerned about their appalling soccer yobs DrB.

High quality soccer yobs, always a pleasure to see them taking on the shaven-headed, beer-bellied English thugs and giving them a good pounding.

[sabang]

^^ Brummie, thru and thru. Which means she was seeing the racial mix of a fair size city alter before her eyes.

She correctly however realised that one did not have to be Turkish, or Moslem, to wear a scarf. Therefore she did not waste her considerable bile on harping on about this non sequitur, in fact continued to wear them herself, as she had done all her life.

[sabang]

shaven-headed, beer-bellied English

So using your logic attaboy-
1- English soccer yobs are generally shaven headed ,so
2- We should ban shaven heads.

Sound reasonable?

we'll save the Irish for now DrB.

[DrB0b]

shaven-headed, beer-bellied English

So using your logic attaboy-
1- English soccer yobs are generally shaven headed ,so
2- We should ban shaven heads.

Sound reasonable?

we'll save the Irish for now DrB.

point 2; substitute "lop off" for 'ban" and I'm with you. An extension of that general principle might also put a stop to any future headscarf controversies.
Thank you for saving us (again), god bless yer honour, you're a gintleman.

[blackgang]

pound for pound the most attractive girls in the world in my opinion.

And I have to agree with that, very beautiful women.

[dobella]

my post referred to 'force' of secularism in turkey.
that any force is needed is - scary.