AKP women urge no ban on hijab

Göksel Bozkurt - Hurriyet Daily

The demand to freely wear headscarves and ‘religious and political symbols’ encompasses all areas of the public realm, except judiciary, security and education. DHA photo

Women of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have urged for the new constitution to allow for the freedom to wear headscarves in all areas of the public realm as part of proposals they submitted to Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek.

The proposal, titled “The new civil constitution from the viewpoint of women,” also said that the new charter should place greater importance on family and religion as well as democracy, and stop imposing secularism.

The demand to freely wear headscarves and other “religious and political symbols” encompasses all areas of the public realm, including deputies in Parliament, but excluding the judiciary, security and education fields. It also stated that while teachers should not wear such items of clothing, students should be free to wear headscarves.

The 15-page report also highlighted that the current parliamentary system has had problems maintaining the separation of powers, and that a presidential system should be considered, for the parliamentary system to continue in a healthy way.

The basis of women’s rights is human rights, the party representatives pointed out, emphasizing that if human rights are not protected, discrimination against women, children, the disabled and homosexuals cannot be prevented.

Meanwhile, the Constitution Conciliation Commission will begin drafting the new constitution on May 1. Special rooms are being prepared both on the Parliament grounds and in other buildings in Ankara that will provide more privacy for commission members. The commission has unanimously decided to carry out the drafting process in complete secrecy.

A parliamentary commission to coordinate the work of drafting the new constitution was set up last October with equal representation from the four parties represented in Parliament. The Constitution Conciliation Commission and a prominent civil society organization under the leadership of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) also toured the provinces of the country to take the pulse of the people and their expectations. The last of the meetings will be held in Istanbul on April 28.

I do not understand why our friends post such sneaky provacative messages here, with no courage to add their own opinions about the subject.

Google is full of references showing the type of headgear advertised here is a tradition of Jewish women.

Luckily, a considerable number of other moslem Turkish women has no desire to be mistaken as of Jewish faith, nor as aliens from outer space.

My friend, you might not understand it, but it is not a sneaky provacative message as you put it. My aim for posting this kind of stuff is to bring those issues into a discussion in here ,so that people here can say their views. This issue has been a long going problem in our country as you know, if you are asking my opinion , I am against the headscarf ban. I dont know about Jewish tradition but this is definitely part of Islamic tradition. You cant classify headscarfs is only Jewish tradition. We should get our facts right.

My opinion is governments can´t tell how people should dress. If a believer woman thinks wearing a hijab is a divine order for her you can´t ban it without ignoring her human rights. Her freedom of choice what comes to working or studying shouldn´t be too much resticted because of her choice.

But. At the same time religious groups and parties should clearly express that they do not intend to make things difficult for those who think differently. And also at all times society should provide shelter and support for those adult women whose personal choice  - whatever it is  -  causes them a thread of violence from the side of their husbands, fathers and brothers.

To TUNCİ

Starting free discussions here is OK, so long as the starter declares his own opinion on the subject first. Any other approach - in my opinion - is fishing for others´ opinions in a sneaky, underhanded way.

To Abla

The objection is not to a devout moslem woman wearing whatever dress she believes god ordered her to wear. İn fact that is how it is in moslem countries.

Majority of population in Turkey may be moslem, yet Turkey is not a moslem country. Turkey is a secular country, which means the laws and legislations in Turkey are not derived from divine laws - but from civil laws....and those civil laws have to be at equal distance to all different faiths. That rule is a pillar of not only secularizm but alsao of democracy. Hence dressing up to display your religious faith can not be allowed in positions that exercise civil administrative power. ( no such problem in so called moslem countries, because women with hijab never get to become, say a judge anyway).

Imagine two ladies one moslem and in hijab and the other a catholic with no hijab involved in the same traffic accident. If the judge at the court they will have to face turns out to be a lady judge in hijab (or alternatively one that wears a big shiny catholic cross on her chest), I think even you can notice the problem.

I have been following this subject for quite a few years now and it seems more and more a political tool than anything else.  Anytime a government wants to get people talking about social issues it is to avoid talking about large scale issues that everyday people either don´t understand or don´t want to talk about because they are boring...like economics or trade.  Here in the US our politicians like to argue about gay marriage and abortion like our government has a right to tell us what to do in our private lives...these issues are already decided and guaranteed in our constituion but politicians keep talking about them because they are devisive and keep people angry..when really it is nobody´s business what people do in their private lives.  I may not agree with wearing a hijab, gay marriage or abortion but it´s not my place to make a moral decision for another individual.  I can safe guard my own soul and not have to worry about anyone elses.  I certainly don´t need a government telling me how to do it! 

I’m afraid you are underestimating women, AlphaF.

We all have different roles and we jump from one role into another with no difficulty. Don’t you think if a woman who has with her own work reached the position of a judge doesn’t have enough common sense to understand what her government post preconceives from her including treating people justly? If her Muslim identity is so strong  it is impossible for her to adopt another role even at work she probably wouldn’t have struggled in order to succeed in her career but concentrated on homemaking and social work for instance.

People are clever enough to make their own choices if they are given the chance.

 As you said, that is Your opinion which I disagree. But a little advice for you ; Don´t judge people´s intentions without knowing them. This is my style of posting whether you like it or not. Sometimes I comment sometimes not. If you dont like it, dont comment about it.

Arkadaşlar tüm önyargılarımızın kaynağı korkularımızdır. Korkularımız da genellik-

le bilgisizlikten ortaya çıkar. Hiçbir şey ne göründüğü kadar iyi ne de göründüğü

kadar kötüdür.

 Absolutely..Prejudices also come from ;

- not knowing eachother enough

- sometimes not wanting to know eachother

- streotyped thoughts

- not respecting others opinions

-  self -rightesness

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As our subject is headscarf ban;

"dictating " people how to wear by rules is against basic human right.

wearing a piece of cloth [ headscarf] in public offices wont bring a harm to the state.

wearing headscarf wont be as disturbing as wearing a mini-short skirt. [sometimes short skirts distracts more for men ]

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When it comes to secularism,

secularism is not all about a piece of cloth. it is about respecting others believes, seperating state affairs from religious affairs. Alpha,if your fear is "State laws replaced with Islamic laws", then dont worry majority of us dont want it. State laws and Islamic laws should be seperate. People in their own private lives can live according to Islamic rules BUT those same people has to obey State rules as them rules are like a glue that keeps people from different believes together.

As long as the state law do not breach the human rights. And in our case "ban on headscarf " breaches the human rights.