中東與伊斯蘭文章分享

Wearing the Islamic headscarf is banned in Turkey's universities on grounds that this would violate the nation's secular principles as it is a political and religious symbol. Though supporters of the scarf ban justify the restriction by saying the headscarf is a political symbol, 67.6 percent of those surveyed said they don't believe the headscarf is a political symbol. Only 25.1 percent of those who participated in the survey said the headscarf reflects women's political preferences.

Asked why they wear the Islamic headscarf, 79.4 percent of the veiled women who participated in the survey said they cover their hair because it is a religious requirement, while 6.5 percent noted that they wear the headscarf due to tradition. Some 3.9 percent cited family pressure, 3.2 percent spousal pressure, 3 percent habit and 2.3 percent social pressure. The company also asked women why they prefer wearing a türban over tying the headscarf under the chin. Some 73.8 percent said they prefer a türban as it is more compatible with Islamic norms than the headscarf, whereas 15.8 percent said it looks more modern.

The amendments the AK Party and the MHP agreed to make to the Constitution to ease the ban on the headscarf include a clause that requires women at universities to tie their headscarves under the chin, which was interpreted as making female students wearing the headscarf cover their heads in the style of "our mothers and grandmothers."

This style was criticized by several nongovernmental organizations and many students who wear the headscarf. “This excludes an Islamic style of headscarf wearing. It is not totally compatible with Islamic norms,” they said.

On the content of the bill, 51.8 percent of those polled said the bill will solve Turkey’s deep-rooted headscarf problem once and for all, but 33.8 percent didn’t agree. A total of 44.8 percent of the women surveyed said they have worn the headscarf since childhood, whereas 31 percent said they have covered their hair since adolescence. Furthermore, 15.2 percent started wearing the Islamic scarf when they got married and 6.4 percent later in adulthood.

Upon a question of whether they would like their daughters to cover their hair, 54.8 percent said yes and 23.9 percent said no. Only 18 percent of those surveyed said they would let their daughters make their own decisions. The poll revealed that 28.2 percent of respondents said there will be peer pressure if female students are allowed to attend university courses with headscarves, a reservation previously voiced by Professor Şerif Mardin, a prominent social scientist. On the other hand, 62.6 percent said there can be no such peer pressure in Turkey.

While 51.8 percent of respondents said they believe Turkey’s deep-rooted headscarf problem will be solved with the formula that has been put forward by the AK Party and the MHP, 33.8 percent said such a formula will not be a remedy to the country’s never-ending headscarf debate.

According to the proposal put forward by the two parties, wearing the headscarf is defined as “covering the head with a headscarf fixed beneath the chin without covering the face so as to allow for easy recognition of identity.” Asked in what style they prefer to cover their hair, 67.1 percent of female participants of the survey said they use a traditional headscarf, while 27.3 percent use a türban. The poll showed that only 1.8 percent of those polled wear a black chador.

The survey also asked women if they faced problems within their families over wearing the headscarf. Some 14 percent said they have had disputes with their family members over wearing or not wearing the Islamic headscarf.

On perceptions regarding the move by the government to lift the headscarf ban, 57 percent said removal of the ban is necessary for democracy and religious freedom, while 26.3 percent said it is an attack on the republic and the principle of secularism.

Some staunchly secular intellectuals and academics have recently raised concerns that if headscarf-wearing women are allowed to attend university courses, Turkey will become a state of religion, the basic values of the republic will be destroyed and people who don’t wear headscarves will experience peer pressure.

Hundreds of pro-freedom university professors, on the other hand, posted a pro-headscarf decleration on a Web site on Friday to voice their support for allowing headscarved students into schools. The declaration, first posted with the signatures of 300 academics, has garnered fast-growing support and the number of university instructors endorsing the document exceeded 2,000 as of noon on Monday.

A full 46.6 percent of those polled said the Supreme Court of Appeals should not interfere in the efforts of the government to solve the headscarf problem, while 31.2 percent said chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya has the right to comment on the proposal put forward by the AK Party and the MHP to eliminate Turkey’s headscarf problem.

In the midst of efforts by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli to find a solution to the headscarf problem, Yalçınkaya said lifting the headscarf ban would violate the “secular and unitary structure” of the state. In a written statement released on Jan. 17 Yalçınkaya warned political parties not to violate the principles of the republic, noting that efforts to destroy Turkey’s modern structure would sow division and cause social conflict.

While 60.2 percent of those surveyed said they appreciate the AK Party’s efforts to lift the headscarf ban, 31.6 percent said the AK Party’s initiative to remove the ban is “insufficient.” Yet 71.1 percent said they disapprove the stance adopted by the CHP against the headscarf and 36.1 percent said they are not satisfied by efforts from the MHP to eliminate the country’s headscarf problem. Asked which political party they would vote for if a parliamentary election were to be held today, 43.9 percent of those surveyed said they would vote for the AK Party, 10.4 percent for the CHP, 18 percent for the MHP and 0.8 percent for the Democratic Society Party (DTP).

The AK Party won about 47 percent of the nationwide vote in the July 22 elections, whereas the secularist CHP had garnered only 20 percent and the MHP 14 percent. Some 42 million people were eligible to vote in the elections, and 14 parties vied for seats in Parliament.

05.02.2008