(Hijab Hot News)Why Turkey Lifted Its Ban on the Islamic Headscarf

Women who work in civil service or government can now wear a hijab. 

 

Women shout slogans to protest against a ban on the wearing Islamic head scarves in universities, in Ankara, Turkey.

Turkish women who want to wear the hijab – the traditional Islamic headscarf covering the head and hair, but not the face – to civil service jobs and government offices will be able to do so now that the Turkish government has relaxed its decades-long restriction on wearing the headscarf in state institutions.
The new rules, which don't apply to workers in the military or judiciary, come into effect immediately and were put into place to address concerns that the restrictions on hijab were discouraging women from conservative backgrounds from seeking government jobs or higher education.
"A dark time eventually comes to an end," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech to the parliament. "Headscarf-wearing women are full members of the republic, as well as those who do not wear it."
Ataturk's Fashion Police
Turkey's restrictions on wearing overtly religious-oriented attire are rooted in the founding of the modern, secular Turkish state, when the republic's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, introduced a series of clothing regulations designed to keep religious symbolism out of the civil service. The regulations were part of a sweeping series of reforms that altered virtually every aspect of Turkish life—from the civil code to the alphabet to education to social integration of the sexes.
The Western dress code at that time, though, was aimed at men. The fez—the short, conical, red-felt cap that had been in vogue in Turkey since the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II made it part of the official national attire in 1826—was banished. Ataturk himself famously adopted a Panama hat to accent his Western-style gray linen suit, shirt, and tie when he toured the country in the summer of 1925 to sell his new ideas to a deeply conservative population. That autumn, the Hat Law of 1925 was passed, making European-style men's headwear de rigueur and punishing fez-wearers with lengthy sentences of imprisonment at hard labor, and even a few hangings.
Curiously enough, Ataturk left women's attire alone. In granting women the freedom to decide for themselves whether they wanted to cover their heads, it was more or less assumed they would eventually give up the headscarf as the new, secular Turkish identity took hold. Many did.
Fall From Favor
By the 1970s, though, and particularly after Turkey's military coup in 1980, discouraging headscarves had taken on the force of law. The headscarf was banned in government offices, hospitals, universities, and schools. By the 1980s, these lengths of cloth had taken on hot political connotations.
Critics worry that Turkey's relaxation of the headscarf ban will blur the line between religion and the state and could herald a stealthy march toward an Islamist state. When the repeal was announced this week, Turkey's opposition party declared it "a serious blow to the secular republic."
Others see it as a long-overdue reform. "The lifting of the ban on headscarves ends a disgraceful human rights abuse that took away futures of generations of women in Turkey," says U.K.-based Turkish academic and commentator Ziya Meral. "Yet this is likely to create tensions, particularly in western Turkey, once women wearing headscarves start appearing in workplaces and becoming more visible in certain sectors.
"The challenge that lies before Turkey is not whether or not Turkey is becoming more religious," he emphasizes, "but whether or not Turkey will finally move on from a rigid, state-controlled public space into a pluralistic society that can accommodate different ethnicities and beliefs."
Europe's Hijab Restrictions
Turkey's lifting of its ban on the hijab comes at a time when a number of countries are debating or imposing restrictions on traditional Muslim head coverings – particularly full-face veils such as the burqa and niqab, which are already banned in France and Belgium. Italy has banned full-face coverings under counterterrorism laws since the 1970s. The Dutch government has also drafted legislation banning the burqa. Some German states forbid it, as did many cities in Spain until the Spanish high court declared the bans unconstitutional earlier this year. Canada prohibits the wearing of veils during citizenship ceremonies, while British politicians are discussing restrictions on headscarves and veils in schools and in courts.
In a celebrated case in London last month, a burqa-wearing woman was ordered to raise her veil while giving evidence on the grounds that having a witness conceal her face while testifying was inconsistent with the principles of British justice. She was permitted to keep her veil lowered during the rest of the proceedings.
Europe and the West aren't the only regions grappling with these questions. In Morocco, veils and headscarves are discouraged, and Tunisia only recently relaxed its ban on wearing them. Syria banned the full-face veil for university students in 2010 – but President Bashar al-Assad rescinded the ban the following year when he sought to appease religious conservatives as the country slid into civil war.
Arguments for banning or restricting the traditional headwear range from security at airports to concerns about divisiveness and perceived polarization of society to preserving the religious neutrality of the state.
A Woman's Perspective
Much of the negativity about headscarves and veils comes from a lack of understanding about what they mean and why women choose wear them, says Shalina Litt, a popular Muslim radio presenter in Birmingham, England, who lectures and blogs about women's rights and Islamic issues and wears the niqab herself. "For me," she says, "it is an expression of faith, and modesty is a part of that. At the same time, I live in the real world. When I go to an airport and it is time to show my ID, I lift my veil—whether it is to a man or a woman—and just get on with it. That's life. Those security rules are in place to protect us all, and there is nothing in the teaching of Islam that says we shouldn't go along with those rules."
Wearing the veil can be surprisingly empowering, says Litt. In recalling how she adopted the niqab gradually over time, moving from loose-fitting clothing to a headscarf to occasionally wearing the niqab to becoming a full-time wearer as her relationship with her faith evolved, she spoke of the first time she sat down to talk with a man while wearing the veil: "I thought: Wow! This is liberating. He is having to listen to my words, not judge me by my clothes or my face, but paying attention purely to what I have to say."

Roff Smith

National Geographic

Published October 11, 2013

This Some comment from their readers:

The factor of faith as argued by some to defend the justification for wearing the burqa or niqab is not tenable in the true sense of the word, as accepting in the faith issue suddenly gives credence to the slaughtering innocent and harmless people by the religious extremist who also happen to be the most rigorous proponent of the wearing of these religious dresses. As much as it is democratic for people to have the freedom to wear what they choose , the world should not loose sight of the fact that this is a Jihad, and pushing in the wearing of the burqa, niqab and hijab on other cultures that are not Arab or Islamic is the soft face of it, while the September 11 by Al-Qaeda, Boko-Haram in Nigeria, Al-Shabab of Somalia and all the terror they have been unleashing on the world is the hard face of this Jihad.
This is not much in the realm of rational domain as many of the comments had opined or many other views that have been sympathetic with the need for freedom in dresses. It is almost completely spiritual. After all, religion and faith are spiritual in origin. There must be a way to fight the efforts and hope of Darkness and it's agents to put mankind in a state where all progress and great achievement of mankind in science, technology etc is lost. The Taliban and it's hold on Afghanistan before they were ousted by America and NATO is a sample of what the Jihad hopes to achieve on the world. And people are made(brainwashed) to believe it's all in the service of God to put all progress of humanity into ruins. Let the world wake up. 

>Problem about the coverings being attributed to faith is that the coverings are not a part of the religion they follow. The covering of women is a part of the Islam culture that has given us so many problems in the past and now. I see covering the women as not being their choice so much as culture telling them they are bad and will be punished if they don't. We have been having a rise in Islamic issues and head covering of women as well as honour killings in Canada. It isn't a good thing in my view. If it was all peaceful, then great, but it isn't.

The other coin though, is taking it all off in the Western culture. Not good either, and gives lots of pressure to follow. A nice middle ground would be best. Noone forced or feeling forced to do either.

>Wow Just had the chance to browse through the comments. I'd like to thank Roff Smith for taking time out to interview me.  Thank you also, to those who defended a woman's right to wear as much as she likes. As for those who appear to be against the niqab I can only add by saying my comment about my discovery that men would have to listen to what I said was not my main motivation behind wearing the veil.  It is a practice that took me years to build an understanding of why I want to wear it.  Therefore explaining in a couple of sentences is near impossible. 
When I teach I choose not to wear the veil for a bunch of reasons.  I discuss many of these things in blogs due to the same questions being raised.  But ultimately I shared my experience in the hope that people could appreciate the meaning behind this belief, which Roff didn't have space to convey.

>the world is so tense, let the woman decide what she wants to wear. Does it matter whether the lady wears a head scarf, face mask or a bikini. why should people care so much. I think dress codes are over rated, western society especially should learn to live with the fact that there are millions of people who choose to hide in the long dresses and scarfs. it certainly doesn't bother me at all because Im tolerant of all cultures and religion. we should respect it instead of criticizing them just cox we feel uncomfortable. A Muslim women might feel uncomfortable communicating with a woman in bikini beach wear, but that dont mean she has to hate her, criticize or mock western way of living. Its just wrong that we are so less tolerant of people. its just sad. Muslim women should not be targeted they should be allowed to wear what they want. Thats my firm opinion.

>
What kind of nonsense it this.   "Wearing the veil can be surprisingly empowering, says Litt. In recalling how she adopted the niqab gradually over time, moving from loose-fitting clothing to a headscarf to occasionally wearing the niqab to becoming a full-time wearer as her relationship with her faith evolved, she spoke of the first time she sat down to talk with a man while wearing the veil: "I thought: Wow! This is liberating. He is having to listen to my words, not judge me by my clothes or my face, but paying attention purely to what I have to say."
Why would this woman assume that every man she talks to is checking her out.  Any decent man is going to be able to handle a conversation with decent well dressed  women with out leering or judging  her looks or dress.   Head scarves are one thing but to think a woman need to cover up her entire face is incomprehensible to me .   Part of communication is facial expressions.   How can you feel like you are communicating with a person who feels the need to hide.   I find it very frustrating that their culture wants to keep a wedge between equality of men and women.    Seriously I would not feel comfortable seeking services from a professional that only has her eyes peeking out.   So the covering up is dragging the women of Islam back to the dark ages.  And it is reinforcing the belief that men cannot control their thoughts. 

>Let's be honest here. These women are like slaves at the end of the American Civil War who did not want freedom. When people only know a certain way of life, they tend to stick to it even if seems regressive to an outsider. There is no question about this type of headgear being symptomatic of cultures in which women are seen as property. No doubt "intellectual" Muslims may be inclined to debate the point but we cannot over look realities like female circumcision, honour killings & arranged marriages. By the same token, people are not told what they can or cannot wear in a free society. As much as the acceptance of such costume goes against the grain in free & educated societies, this is what we must do. These women or their daughters or perhaps their grand daughters, will eventually throw off these oppressive garments. We just have to patient, provide choices & allow nature to run its course. 

>I have to admit that I did not know much about headscarves, hijabs, or burqas a year ago. I was under the impression they were a form of control over women in a male dominated society. After reading on the subject I see that in most ways this is a misconception. It is about modesty and faith. I think a woman should be able to choose what she wears, and if her faith and desire is to wear a hijab, then she should be able to wear one. Though in some areas were extremists take this to a whole other level it becomes less about faith, and more about domination and segregation of the sexes.