Faith, fashion, and freedom
ANKARA, TURKEY--Somehow, what should have been just another fashion show ignited a media circus. Nearly a dozen Turkish news crews prowled a hotel ballroom where some of Turkey's best-known models donned the latest Islamic women's fashions. With the country's rather liberal interpretation of Islam, the clothing and head scarves managed to be quite elegant and stylish (and expensive), while still covering the models nearly completely.
The TV crews, however, were focused less on fashion trends than on political controversy. The show drew strong protests when the organizers first booked the official Ankara Palace State Guest House, where, as in most Turkish government buildings, Islamic head scarves are banned. Adding fuel to the fire was the involvement of the wives of several top government ministers, whose Justice and Development Party (AKP) has strong Islamic roots. In the end, the venue was changed and the wives distanced themselves from the show. "You can see these clothes on the street," the clothing label's co-owner Mustafa Celikten told the crowd. "I don't understand why it was a problem."
His comment was perhaps a little disingenuous amid what was plainly a PR stunt. After all, the head-scarf debate is an old one here, and it remains a reliable gauge of the severity of Turkey's ongoing identity crisis. For the many devout Muslims living under Turkey's aggressively secular government, the head scarf is a symbol of religious freedom. For the urban Turks who call themselves "modern," it marks a potential retreat from Turkey's modernization and a subtle form of intimidation. Many Turkish elites were shocked by a recent newspaper poll showing that 64 percent of Turkish women wear head scarves and that a majority of Turks also believe the head-scarf restrictions should be lifted.
Suspicions. These days, the issue is heating up, in large part because of the seven tumultuous months of AKP rule, which included Turkey's ultimate refusal to allow U.S. troops to use Turkish bases for the invasion of Iraq. Turkey's military and media, as well as the rest of the establishment, have been watching suspiciously for any signals that the AKP is secretly pushing for an Islamic government here.
Aside from the head-scarf issue, AKP has explored other reforms, such as allowing people to open houses of worship in any building. That idea has been dropped for now, but it would have permitted an unlimited number of mosques to open in apartment buildings. "They want to impose their way of life," fumes Onur Oymen, an opposition member of parliament. "It could open an uncontrolled move towards fundamentalism because people could not control the situation."
In some ways, what's really going on is a small revolution in Turkey. Not only does the AKP have Islamic roots, but it also draws much of its leadership ranks and strength from Anatolia, Turkey's poorer and less educated heartland. "It might be the opening of a new era," says Fehmi Koru, a leading columnist for one of Istanbul's largest papers. "The masses will govern themselves, not the elites governing the masses."
While publicly denying any Islamic agenda, the AKP has cleverly adopted the language of democracy and modernization, in part to deflect the establishment's suspicions. Most concretely, this has meant pushing hard for integration with the European Union, which is expected to require Turkey to loosen its restrictions on religious practices, such as the head-scarf ban. "We want to bring Turkey into the modern world," explains AKP legislator Turhan Comez. The EU will also seek to reduce the role of the Turkish military, which has long regarded itself as the guardian of Turkey's secularism.
The military, meanwhile, is finding itself in the unusual position of applying the brakes on the rush toward the West. It obviously wants to guard its own power, but it, along with much of the rest of the Turkish establishment, also fears AKP'S latent aims. "They haven't been able to convince people that their rhetoric reflects their true intentions," says Feride Acar, chairwoman of the political science department at Middle East Technical University in Ankara. "To argue for the head scarf as a sign of modernization and ignore other violations of women's rights doesn't make a very convincing argument."
This story appears in the June 30, 2003 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.