The Turkish Veil, Again!
Elias Harfoush Al Hayat - 09/06/08//
…and it may very well be the last time. The decision by the Constitutional Court to consider the permission granted to female university students to voluntarily wear the veil in contradiction with the secular principles of the state definitely eliminates such a request, as long as the Turkish constitution keeps its status, and as long as the military and judicial institutions protect this constitution. Even more, the Court's decision opens a wider outlook on the degree of commitment by the party that proposed this amendment (i.e. the ruling party) to secular principles - a fact that will allow its opponents to demand its dissolution and the banning of its leaders from political action.
The Justice and Development Party should have been aware of the difficulty of its battle with the influential secular forces in Turkey. It attempted sidetrack them under the pretext that it obtained the majority during the elections, failing to take into consideration that the precipitated steps it took would lead it to a losing confrontation- especially in light of two previous experiences in which Islamist parties were dissolved and banned. Instead of being keen on the success of coexistence between their moderate Islamist party and those who consider themselves Ataturk's heirs, Abdullah Gul and Ragab Tayyip Erdogan chose to push things to the extreme. They waged an unnecessary open battle with the army over the presidential position. While symbolic, this position is significant because it reflects the model of a secular Turkey.
Rather than contenting themselves with their notable control over the government, they preferred to wage the presidential battle, driving the country to new elections in which they obtained the required majority in Parliament to guarantee Gul's election. They disregarded the prevailing objection to the fact that Abdullah Gul is the first president who enters the Çankaya presidential palace with his veiled wife since the establishment of the modern Turkish state. For the first time in Turkey's history, military leaders boycotted his consecration ceremony - an indicator of what was to come.
This does not mean that Gul or any other politician adopting an Islamic program does not have the right to become Turkey's president. However, what Gul, Erdogan, and their colleagues at the Justice and Development Party are blamed for is having double standards to attain their objectives. Although they claim their belief in the state's secular principles and their eagerness to defend them, this belief constantly fails at the first test - or at least when it is measured according to the concept of secularism as seen by the Turkish elite. It is for this that the elite cast a doubtful look at the Turkish president and his colleagues when they visit Ataturk's tomb and kneel before it, or when they assure that the secular regime is as protected among their hands as it would be among the hands of any other party. The Justice and Development party officials have chosen to act in a precipitated manner, without calculating the extent of the fear from their policies in a country that has for eight centuries been accustomed to following a specific social and political methodology that reflects its concept of nationalism and sovereignty.
Similarly, in addition to the double standards that characterize the speech of the Justice and Development party about secularism, there are also the double standards and deceptive language used by Turkey's seculars to describe their commitment to democratic principles. Such deceptive behavior was revealed by their disdain towards the results of the popular vote which granted the current government and head of state a clear majority. These seculars feel that this democratic game is a weapon thrust in their faces either by the Islamic currents in Turkey or the European environment that supports Erdogan. Consequently, they are willing to wage the battle against them (i.e. with democracy itself) since they consider that it is the last battle that protects Turkey from the regional tides.
This is why the repercussions of the recent decision to prohibit veils in universities will not be fleeting. Nor will this decision constitute the last issue, since Turkey is on the verge of political turmoil. It would not be hasty of us to say that this confrontation will set the path to be followed for many years to come. Those two days may not have witnessed a military coup similar to the usual ones that take place in the country, but it is a judicial and constitutional coup that carries all the traces of a military coup.
|
