Letters to the Editor
ncarey
Published Letters: 99 Editor's Choice: 21
-
80% wear veils?
[Read the article: Why shouldn't Muslim women wear veils?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have a hard time believing that 80% of Egyptian women wear veils.
I spent about 3 weeks in Egypt earlier this year, and while veiled women weren't, strictly speaking, uncommon, they were far from being the norm. I'm guessing the writer of the original article has confused veils, which cover the face, with headscarves, which only border the face. And there is a huge difference between the two in terms of a person's ability to interact with others normally.
Indeed in 3 months travelling through 4 Islamic countries, we probably saw only 20 or 30 women who chose to cover their faces. We saw as many women wearing short skirts (well, above the knee, anyway) in one Damascus restaurant. And, while Syrians are much more liberal than Egyptians in their interpretation of Islam, perhaps feelings against the veil are not as out of the ordinary as they might sound to those whose only contact with the Muslim world is through the media.
-
Hardly cause for concern about secular Turkey
[Read the article: Head scarves to topple secular Turkey?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But, in a scandalous turn of events, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a Muslim, is considering a presidential run ... meaning, it's possible that the presidential palace will be occupied by his head-scarf-wearing wife.
First off, this sentence doesn't make a whole lot of sense. A Muslim President does not automatically mean a headscarf-wearing wife. Nor is a Muslim running for President exactly a scandalous turn of events. The current president, Ahmet Sezer, is also a Muslim, as are approximately 99% of Turks.
Second, this is hardly something to fret about. Erdogan and his party are not extremists - they may envision a Turkey that's less vehemently secular, but, as Prime Minister, he has worked very hard to bring Turkey up to the standards necessary to join the EU, and toppling the secular order would be to turn around and go in the other direction.
Third, as president, he'll actually have more symbolic power and less real power than he does as Prime Minister.
Fourth - seems to me that some of Turkey's secularity laws, such as the banning of headscarves (again, NOT the same thing as veils) are counter-productive to women's rights. I think that it's better to wear a headscarf than to be pulled out of school. I also find it interesting that of Islamic Middle Eastern countries (in the broadest sense of the term "middle east") Iran actually has the highest portion of women with a higher education, because nobody prevents them from attending for ethical reasons.
Fifth - despite what a previous poster seems to think, Islamism is not creeping into power in Turkey. There are reactionaries within the country, of course, and because they feel threatened, some will lash out, but they hardly represent anything systematic. In much of Turkey, you'd find it little different from western Europe, and I'm told by people who've spent more time there than I have that the line between the secular, European west, and the conservative, more staunchly Islamic east is steadily marching eastward.
And finally, as you mention, the army - NATO's second largest - has overthrown governments before because they have strain too far from the secular path set out by Ataturk. It's practically their constitutional duty. If the government goes too far awry, they'll do it again.