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Islam is setting the style after Turkish poll win
"Allah is Great Clothing"
Flanked by mannequins modestly swathed in Islamic-style headgear and flowing robes, Mustafa Karaduman says he is a happy man these days.
Mustafa Karaduman of 'Allah is Great Clothing' at his boutique
For the owner of Turkey's largest Islamic-style clothing chain, Tekbir Giyim, or "Allah is Great Clothing", the stunning success of the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in last month's election is a business opportunity.
"Allah willing, more of our sisters will feel freer to cover their heads in keeping with our faith," said Mr Karaduman at his main boutique in Istanbul's religiously conservative Fatih neighbourhood.
From a poor background in the mainly Kurdish province of Malatya, Mr Karaduman, 45, started his chain in the mid-1980s when political Islam was on the rise.
Today he has more than 200 outlets across Turkey and exports a third of his goods, mostly to Germany, where there are about two million Turkish guest workers.
advertisementTekbir's clients include Halide Izetbegovic, the wife of the former Bosnian president, Alia Izebetgovic, as well as followers of Yusuf Islam, formerly the pop star Cat Stevens.
"Ensuring that more Turkish women dress Islamic style is in fact my mission," he said, pointing to his sales girls dressed in ankle-length maroon skirts with matching silk headscarves.
Mr Karaduman's goal flies in the face of the pro-secular policies of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, who made women cast off their veils as part of his radical drive to catapult the fledgling republic into the western world.
Turkey's pro-secular military, who see themselves as the custodians of Ataturk's legacy, have kept up the battle against Islamic fundamentalism and favour bans on Islamic headscarves at government offices and state-run schools and universities.
In a concerted campaign to persuade the military that the AKP has no secret agenda to steer Turkey towards Islamic rule, the party chairman, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, say he believes in keeping religion and politics separate and that easing such bans is not a government priority.
So, when Bulent Arinc, a senior AKP figure and the new speaker of parliament, arrived last month with his wife, who covers her head, to see off the solidly pro-secular president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, pro-secular sensitivities were re-ignited.
Mr Karaduman was delighted. "She was extremely chic, I can't understand what the fuss is about," he said.
Tekbir creations range from shapeless, ankle-length coats to bright red flared gauzy skirts with matching frilly tops and turbans.
Professional women can choose from a wide range of smart trouser suits. "The Islamic part," explains Kerime Colakel, a veteran salesgirl, "is that all our clothes conceal the hips and the ankles."
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