Turkey debates easing headscarf ban

Turkey debates easing headscarf ban

By Vincent Boland in Ankara

Published: February 5 2008 15:32 | Last updated: February 6 2008 16:04

Six months after trouncing them in a battle of wits that ended in a general election, Turkey’s socially conservative government is again testing the patience of its secular opponents. On Wednesday the Turkish parliament began debating the lifting of a constitutional ban on the wearing of headscarves at public universities.

The initiative, which could be approved by the end of the week, pits the conservative government against the republican establishment and the military, which views with undisguised distaste the rising visibility of Islam in officially secular and overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey.

A guide to Turkey’s headscarf wars in pictures by Leyla Boulton

The ban was introduced after a coup in 1980 in a constitution drafted under military supervision, and analysts say the general staff is sure to be unhappy at the overturning of a measure that previous generals considered essential to the maintenance of public order and secularism.

Opponents of the easing say the ban exists because the headscarf is a political symbol. Its proponents, who have the support of a majority of the public, say the ban must be lifted to uphold civil and human rights, not for religious or political reasons. The gulf between the two sides is a perfect illustration of the tension in Turkey between old-guard secularists, who dominate the judiciary and the bureaucracy as well as the academy, and power-hungry social and religious conservatives fresh from a landslide victory in July’s election.

As Ibrahim Kalin, director of Seta, a think-tank in Ankara, says: “The headscarf is the most powerful symbol of the collision between secularists and conservatives in Turkey.”

In this collision, momentum appears to be with the government. The ruling Justice and Development party, which has its roots in political Islam, and a nationalist opposition party that has long supported the easing of the ban have enough MPs in the 550-seat parliament to change the constitution. However, the amendments are certain to be challenged in the courts, and a prolonged, messy and noisy fight seems inevitable.

Opposition is being led by university rectors, who regard the measure as a serious threat to Turkey’s tradition of secularism. This tradition, known as laicism, mandates the strict separation of state and religion on the one hand and, on the other, strict state control of religious practice and symbols. Among the republican elite, this is the most important of modern Turkey’s six founding principles.

Ural Akbulut, rector of Middle East Technical University in Ankara, rejects the human rights argument put forward by the government for the constitutional change. “Girls in Turkey wear the headscarf because it is a religious symbol,” he says. “Why else would they wear it?” He argues that girls who do not wear the headscarf at university will be forced to cover up through peer pressure “within five to 10 years” if parliament makes the change and it is passed by the courts.

The measure as drafted has dismayed those on the liberal end of Turkey’s political spectrum. They say the wording of the new constitutional arrangements is one-sided, hastily agreed, and poorly drafted. But there is no doubt that the government’s initiative enjoys broad public support. This is either because the ban directly affects a family member’s education prospects or because people accept that girls of university age are old enough to decide for themselves whether or not to wear a headscarf.

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US retailers to shun London Fashion Week

By Vanessa Friedman in New York and Tom Braithwaite in London

Published: February 6 2008 17:55 | Last updated: February 6 2008 17:55

There will be glitz, glamour and painfully thin models but next week’s London Fashion Week is set to be shunned by the biggest US retailers in protest at “exorbitant” prices.

Buyers from flagship department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys are planning to make Paris their sole European fashion destination as the weak dollar and transatlantic economic worries force them into tough choices.