Headscarf controversy in Turkey

Atatürk and an old woman in çarşaf
Part of a series on
Islamic female dress
Types
Practice and law by country
Concepts
Other
Politics of Turkey
Constitution
Legislature
Executive
Judiciary
Elections
Foreign relations
See also
flag Turkey portal

The headscarf controversy in Turkey was a 20th and early 21st century controversy about women wearing Islamic headscarves. The Republic of Turkey had been a secular state since the constitutional amendment of 1937. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk introduced the secularization of the state in the Turkish Constitution of 1924, alongside his reforms. Over 90% of Turkey's population is Muslim,[1][2] and the suppression of hijab/headscarves and other prominent religious symbols in government institutions and public schools, (similar to policies in France, Quebec and Mexico)[3] led to heated controversy at times in Turkey. Specifically, it resulted in a clash between those favoring the secular principles of the state, such as the Turkish Armed Forces,[4] and religious conservatives, including Islamists. In the early 21st century, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reversed this,[5] and worked to "raise a pious generation" in Turkey.[6]

Atatürk never forbade the headscarf (the dominant form of hijab in Turkey, where it is called başörtüsü meaning head cover), but didn't encourage its use either.[7] The headscarf was banned in public institutions because of the 'public clothing regulation' issued after the 1980 coup and began to be implemented in a radical way after the 1997 military memorandum.[7] However, the ban on the headscarf for public personnel was lifted by the democratization package in 2013. Restrictive provisions were lifted with the amendment made in article 5 of the dress code regulation,[7] but remained in effect in the military, police force and judiciary.[8] In 2022 both Turkey's Islamist government and the formerly secular opposition vowed to take "legal steps to enshrine women's right to wear Islamic headscarves".[9]

  1. ^ Nişancı, Zübeyir (21 March 2023). Ayşe Betül Aydın; Hatice Nur Keskin (eds.). Faith and Religiosity in Türkiye (PDF). Marmara University. ISBN 978-1-64205-906-9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 23 Aug 2023.
  2. ^ Çiçek, Nevzat (26 March 2023). ""Türkiye'de İnanç ve Dindarlık" araştırması yayımlandı: Dindarlaştık mı, sekülerleştik mi?" ["Faith and Religiosity in Turkey" research was published: Have we become religious or secularized?] (in Turkish). indyturk.com.
  3. ^ Hardy, Roger (22 July 2002). "Turkey: Battle of the headscarf". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2017-03-15. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  4. ^ "Turkey's Mrs Gul given makeover". BBC News. August 2007. Archived from the original on 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
  5. ^ "Court rules Student Oath should be reinstated in Turkey". Ahval. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  6. ^ Gall, Carlotta (18 June 2018). "Erdogan's Plan to Raise a 'Pious Generation' Divides Parents in Turkey". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  7. ^ a b c "Türkiye'de başörtüsü yasağı: Nasıl başladı, nasıl çözüldü?". Archived from the original on 2017-03-25. Retrieved 2017-03-25.
  8. ^ Sebnem Arsu; Dan Bilefsky (8 October 2013). "Turkey Lifts Longtime Ban on Head Scarves in State Offices". The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  9. ^ Nevzat Devranoglu and Daren Butler (5 October 2022). "Islamic headscarf returns to heart of Turkish political debate". Reuters. Retrieved 19 February 2023.