Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Turkey at odds over prospect of presidential first lady clad in Islamic dress
International Herald Tribune ^ | August 26, 2007

Posted on 08/26/2007 7:45:43 AM PDT by processing please hold

ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey's secular establishment and its Islamic-leaning government have long quarreled fiercely over weighty issues such as the appointment of Islamic-minded officials and the role of the military in politics.

But nothing has inflamed passions quite as much as a debate over a simple item of clothing.

Secularist horror at the idea a woman who wears a Muslim headscarf might enter the presidential palace that was once home to modern Turkey's revered — and decidedly secular — founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, is at the heart of a battle over the presidential ambitions of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.

Gul seems set to fulfill his dream of becoming president as parliament heads into a decisive vote Tuesday on his nomination in which the ruling party needs only a simple majority to secure his victory.

Gul's wife, Hayrunnisa, has been wearing the hijab, the Muslim scarf covering the head and neck, since her teens, and was a leading campaigner for women's right to wear the scarf. The head covering, many believe, is mandated by Islamic tradition.

Secularists view the headscarf — banned in government offices and schools — as a challenge to the modern path Ataturk set for Turkey. They fear that any move to relax the headscarf ban would undermine secularism.

They scoff at the notion a woman clad in an Islamic garment might represent a secular nation that is vying for European Union membership. And they remember how Hayrunnisa Gul once appealed to the European Court of Human Rights for the right to wear the headscarf to a university and fear she will subject the presidency to Islamic influence.

(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: islam; muhammadsminions; muslimwomen; turkey; waronislamism
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-49 next last
Simple item of clothing? It's what the simple item of clothing represents.
1 posted on 08/26/2007 7:45:44 AM PDT by processing please hold
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: processing please hold

Didn’t Nancy Pelosi wear a headscarf when she visited Syria?
What’s good enough for Nancy should be good enough for the president’s wife.


2 posted on 08/26/2007 7:50:47 AM PDT by 353FMG
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: processing please hold

liberals say we should be able to burn our own flag in the streets, because its just threaded materal


3 posted on 08/26/2007 7:51:20 AM PDT by sure_fine ( • not one to over kill the thought process)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: processing please hold

“They fear that any move to relax the headscarf ban would undermine secularism.”

They are currect.


4 posted on 08/26/2007 7:54:30 AM PDT by sageb1 (This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sageb1

oops...correct


5 posted on 08/26/2007 7:54:49 AM PDT by sageb1 (This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: 353FMG
She sure did.

Looks like the secular segment in Turkey doesn't want the headscarf. It should be an interesting fight between them.

6 posted on 08/26/2007 7:56:11 AM PDT by processing please hold (Duncan Hunter '08) (ROP and Open Borders-a terrorist marriage and hell's coming with them)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: sure_fine

Liberals are an insane bunch.


7 posted on 08/26/2007 7:58:23 AM PDT by processing please hold (Duncan Hunter '08) (ROP and Open Borders-a terrorist marriage and hell's coming with them)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: processing please hold
The “sick man of Europe” has long clung to civilization by its fingernails.

And now the retrograde movement back to barbarism has begun.

8 posted on 08/26/2007 8:00:03 AM PDT by BenLurkin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 353FMG

Yes, she did. And a really nice scarf.


9 posted on 08/26/2007 8:00:16 AM PDT by apocalypto
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: sageb1
Yes they are.

I wonder how many secularist it will take having their heads removed from their necks before dropping their challenge to the headscarf controversy?

10 posted on 08/26/2007 8:01:36 AM PDT by processing please hold (Duncan Hunter '08) (ROP and Open Borders-a terrorist marriage and hell's coming with them)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin
And now the retrograde movement back to barbarism has begun.

In spades!

11 posted on 08/26/2007 8:02:44 AM PDT by processing please hold (Duncan Hunter '08) (ROP and Open Borders-a terrorist marriage and hell's coming with them)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: processing please hold

It is a major protest symbol. One of many incomprehensible things about Turkey.


12 posted on 08/26/2007 8:04:51 AM PDT by RightWhale (It's Brecht's donkey, not mine)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RightWhale
It is a major protest symbol. One of many incomprehensible things about Turkey.

I washed my hands of Turkey when they refused to allow us to enter Iraq from the north. They showed their hand with that refusal and they can kiss my.....

13 posted on 08/26/2007 8:08:42 AM PDT by processing please hold (Duncan Hunter '08) (ROP and Open Borders-a terrorist marriage and hell's coming with them)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: processing please hold

I have no problem with her wearing the hajib, even in an official capacity.
Just dont force anyone else to do the same.

If Laura Bush wore a cross, I wouldn’t be outraged


14 posted on 08/26/2007 8:09:47 AM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: processing please hold

I have been to Turkey and have mingled. It is a strange mixture of secular cosmopolitanism and loudspeaker call to worship several times a day.


15 posted on 08/26/2007 8:13:40 AM PDT by RightWhale (It's Brecht's donkey, not mine)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: mylife
I see what you are saying but let’s face it...

There really is NO analogy between free expressions of Christian faith -- and abject adherence to oppressive Muslim mandates.

16 posted on 08/26/2007 8:15:58 AM PDT by BenLurkin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: mylife
The cross in Christianity doesn't represent repression as the hijab in islam does.

You can't compare the two.

17 posted on 08/26/2007 8:16:39 AM PDT by processing please hold (Duncan Hunter '08) (ROP and Open Borders-a terrorist marriage and hell's coming with them)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: processing please hold

You miss the point entirely


18 posted on 08/26/2007 8:17:48 AM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: RightWhale
It is a strange mixture of secular cosmopolitanism and loudspeaker call to worship several times a day.

How much longer can the two co-exist?

19 posted on 08/26/2007 8:18:13 AM PDT by processing please hold (Duncan Hunter '08) (ROP and Open Borders-a terrorist marriage and hell's coming with them)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: 353FMG

Guess who?

However, I think it matters much more what these people were doing and where they were doing it, rather than what they were wearing at the time. Although I would have preferred that Mrs. Bush had not donned an Islamic scarf, the fact remains that she was visiting a mosque in Jerusalem. Nancy Pelosi, on the other hand, was hobnobbing around in Syria. A bit of a difference there, wouldn't you say.
20 posted on 08/26/2007 8:18:34 AM PDT by RepublitarianRoger
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-49 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson