http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=are-women-with-headscarves-the-8216other8217of-islamic-men-2009-07-17
Are women with headscarves the 'other' of Islamic men? Friday, July 17, 2009 Isil Egrikavuk ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News Debate over why Islamist men are marrying uncovered women has opened a Pandora's box, with some saying the matches are simply made for love, while others point to political interventions that have re-positioned women in Turkish society. Ahmet Hakan, a columnist for daily Hürriyet, made headlines last week by drawing attention to recent marriages between women who do not wear headscarves and Islamist men. Hakan gave as examples the sons of Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas and Vice-Prime Minister Bülent Arinç, both of whom have partners who do not cover their heads. "If conservative men do not marry headscarfed women, who is going to marry them?" Hakan asked, saying that Islamist men do not want to bring a "black" woman with them. "They do not want to be seen in public with someone who will be a burden for them." Political or sensual? Hakan's argument was not a new one; another Islamist columnist, Ismail Kiliçarslan, asked the same question four years ago. Yet Hokan's column prompted several other journalists, writers and intellectuals to take up the subject again. Ismet Berkan from daily Radikal was the first to respond, arguing that marriage decisions are individual and based on love, rather than political arguments. "The decision between wearing a headscarf or not is an individual one," Berkan wrote. "When we bring such arguments into political debates, we open up a door for sociological analyses that are worth nothing." Some agreed with Berkan, saying that such debates were "useless." Conservative writer Abdurrahman Dilipak sounded a similar note, saying, "Such debates are not grounded in any sociological analysis. They are just filling up the headlines." Yet some see other motives behind the trend. Writer Cihan Aktas believes that one main reason for such marriages is men's desire to build a career. "Women who do not wear the headscarf are seen as a symbol of modernity," she said. "In one of my stories, I wrote about a governor who started seeing his [headscarfed] wife as a burden on his political career." Indeed, the wife of former Istanbul Mayor Ali Müfit Gürtuna has been the focus of such debate. After her husband left his post and jumped back into politics in 2007, Reyhan Gürtuna removed her headscarf, saying, "Everyone should be free in their choice of dress." Others point to recent political interventions as the real crux of the matter. In an interview with Tempo24, Ayse Böhürler from the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, traces the trend all the way back to a military memorandum issued Feb. 28, 1997, in which Turkey's National Security Council announced its decisions in response to what it saw as growing Islamic support. "Before Feb. 28, the situation was very different. Muslim men and women could work together in an office comfortably. After Feb. 28, headscarfed women were seen as the symbols of a conservative look," she said. "Now conservative men think that headscarfed women expose men as conservative. So, either in their private or professional lives, men do not want to be seen with women who wear a headscarf." Gül's case Useless or not, the headscarf has been the subject of many heated debates in Turkey. When Abdullah Gül was chosen as the president in 2007, his wife's headscarf made more news than his own views on religion. Academic Nilufer Göle writes frequently about the position of women in both public and private spaces in Muslim society. "The difference between the West and the East declares itself in the position of women in society," she said. "The Turkish modernization movement has tried to overcome this difference by grounding itself in female rights. Yet Islamic movements today display this difference by putting the women in the foreground." So is showing the hair a symbol of modernity? Canan Aritman, a deputy from the Republican People's Party, or CHP, said she definitely thinks it is. "Being modern is not just a way of thinking, it is also about our image. It is about how we dress," she said. "Before President Abdullah Gül was married to his wife, she did not wear a headscarf either. In the male-dominated Islamist community, it is a matter of pride to cover up the women. I believe that those newlyweds will also cover their heads soon."
