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Headscarf controversy in Turkey
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Turkey has been a secular state since it was founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923. Atatürk introduced the secularization of the state in the Turkish Constitution of 1924. Later alongside the Atatürk's Reforms in accordance with the Kemalist Ideology, with a strict appliance of laicite in the constitution. Atatürk saw headscarves as backward-looking and an obstacle to his campaign to secularize and modernize the new Turkish Republic. The issue of the headscarf debate has been very intense and controversial since it was banned.
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Turkey has been a secular state since it was founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923. Atatürk introduced the secularization of the state in the Turkish Constitution of 1924. Later alongside the Atatürk's Reforms in accordance with the Kemalist Ideology, with a strict appliance of laicite in the constitution. Atatürk saw headscarves as backward-looking and an obstacle to his campaign to secularize and modernize the new Turkish Republic. The issue of the headscarf debate has been very intense and controversial since it was banned. Although secular, it is a Muslim majority country, where over 99 per cent of the people are Muslims. It has resulted in a clash between those favoring secular principles of the state, and those following their religious beliefs.
Banning of headscarves
With a policy of official secularism, the Turkish government has traditionally banned women who wear headscarves from working in the public sector. The ban applies to teachers, lawyers, parliamentarians and others working on state premises. The ban on headscarves in the civil service and educational and political institutions was expanded to cover non-state institutions. Authorities began to enforce the headscarf ban among mothers accompanying their children to school events or public swimming pools, while female lawyers and journalists who refused to comply with the ban were expelled from public buildings such as courtrooms and universities.
University rectors agreed on this law in 1998 to enforce a secular dress code that bans wearing of headscarf in all universities. In January 1998 a government decree banned religious clothing, including the headscarf, for teachers, officials and students in all schools and universities. Universities and schools refused registering women students unless they submit ID photographs with bared hair and neck.
In 1999, the ban on headscarves in the public sphere hit the headlines when Merve Kavakçi, a newly elected MP for the Virtue Party was prevented from taking her oath in the National Assembly because she wore a headscarf.
Political symbolism
The banning of the headscarf in universities was introduced in 1982, where the constitution was amended, after a military coup, as a warning to Islamist ideological parties, and stricten more in 1997, by another military coup. A regulation in, 16 July 1982 specified that: the clothing and appearances of personnel working at public institutions; the rule that female civil servants' head must be uncovered. In 1984, it was stated that the headscarf should be banned but that the türban (a Turkish styled - modern form of tying) might be freely worn. At the beginning of the 1980s, ironically, it was perceived that the "headscarf is a political symbol, whereas the türban is innocent"; at the beginnings of the 1990s, conversely, it was conceived that the "headscarf is innocent whereas the türban is a political symbol".
Wearing of the headscarf
In Turkey, many women observe the wearing of the headscarf in public particularly in rural areas, however the wearing has risen in urban cities, such as in Istanbul and Ankara. A study carried out by the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation, found that 62% or two-thirds of the women in Turkey wear the headscarf. Many who wear it believe that the headscarf is worn for their religious beliefs, and not for any type of political movement. The issue is discussed and debated in almost every type of forum, artistic, commercial, cultural, economic, political, and religious. For many citizens of Turkey, women's dress has become the issue that defines whether a Muslim is secularist or religious. The head scarf issue creates lots of problems in the society and in the government between conservatives and modernists.
Opinion poll
During 2007, a research firm owned by Daily Radikal called, KONDA carried out a survey to over 40,000 people based on census data's, across the country asking their views of the headscarf, which was titled: 'Religion, Secularism and Headscarf in Daily Life.' The poll found that many people believe the ban on the headscarf is unfair to those who wear it and want to achieve an education. A majority of 78 per cent of the students said 'it should be allowed' in universities, whereas 24.5 per cent said 'it should be banned.' However with the ban in place, many students considered to take the headscarf off in order to receive an education by 63.7 per cent, with 26.1 believing it is unacceptable to take the headscarf off.
Question 1 - 'Do They Cover Their Heads?'
Do you (or your wife) cover your head when going out to the street? (How do you/does she cover it?)
| Not covered | Wears a headscarf | Wears a türban | Wears a chador |
|---|
| 30.6% | 51.9% | 16.2% | 1.3% |
In total during 2007, those who cover their heads with a headscarf or the türban is 69.4 per cent, a rise of 5.2 per cent since 2003, which found 64.2 per cent cover their heads.
The research firm also asked questions based on religious views, it found that 52.8 percent said they were believers who try to follow religious practices, 34.3 percent believe in a religion but do not usually practice, while 9.7 percent follow all religious practices and 3.2 percent are agnostics,atheists or do not follow a religion. In other words, 96.2 per cent have a religion.
Ban lifted
On February 7, 2008, the Turkish Parliament passed an amendment to the constitution, allowing women to wear the headscarf in Turkish universities, arguing that many women would not seek an education if they could not wear the hijab. The main political party, the Justice and Development Party and a key opposition party, the Nationalist Movement Party stated that it was an issue of human rights and freedoms. The Parliament voted 403-107 (a majority of 79 per cent) in favour of the first amendment, which was inserted into the constitution stating that everyone has the right to equal treatment from state institutions. However the move resulted in many oppositions, by the main opposition party of the Republican People's Party which asked the constitutional court to block the new new law passed, and viewed it is a move towards an Islamic state. Thousands of secular demonstrators also gathered near the Parliament against the move by the government.
Lifting of ban annulled
On 5 June 2008, Turkey's Constitutional Court annulled the parliament's proposed amendment intended to lift the headscarf ban, ruling that removing the ban would run counter to official secularism. While the highest court's decision to uphold the headscarf ban cannot be appealed (AP 7 June 2008), the government has nevertheless indicated that it is considering adopting measures to weaken the court's authority.
See also
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