tormaerebaap
Dec 26, 2008
Research Papers / TURKEY AND THE EUROPEAN UNION - research paper [6]
Hey man, here is an article i scrapped, its not directly related, but it mite be of some help
Turkey : Of the Hijab and the European Union
Mustafa Kemal Attaturk once remarked "A nation which makes the final sacrifice of life and freedom does not get beaten". This spirit as such, has remained in the Turks, but Attaturk is in a bad position indeed. Attaturk is and will be remembered for his initiatives that he espoused for the then newly formed Turkey, among them the spirit of tolerance, accommodation and secularism: ideas that remain on high esteem.
However, these views were good meaning back then, but as nations age, so do the views of their citizens evolve. To some, Attaturk remains an overpowering national icon, but to others, Attaturk embodies the traits of Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan, the state, which is availing and tuning his memory, for its own purpose of oppression.
So, is the secular Turkey of Attaturk's vision dying a slow and painful death?
January's events in Istanbul confirmed the prophesies of western analysts, that the secular Turkey would fall, its secularity breached. When the AKP took power in 2002, an argument was genuinely put forward by many a policy scholar, that never in the past had any political party come to power with its roots in Islam as had been the case in Turkey. Several scandals (of reportedly western reportage) revealed that the spouses of many ministers donned the headscarves that were forbidden under Turkey's secular constitution. Many within mainstream society and beyond harbored a suspicion that the AKP had a secret religious agenda, with Islamic backing, that could heavily rupture Turkey's secular fabric.
This perception was realized in early February, when the Turkish Supreme Court forestalled a bill that would have permitted the wearing of head-scarves at Universities. Turkey's secular constitution bans female students at Universities from wearing head-scarves. However, some government officials state that this clause in the constitution disallows many a Muslim Hijabi girl from attaining education and it is also clearly an act of violation of the right to personal freedom. So, in carrying out their landmark ruling, the Justices assumed that had this ruling been positive, Turkey's dogmatic secular principles would have been violated.
Turkey is and has been a democratic, secular, Constitution-based Republic with a modern political system founded as early as 1923, under the guidance of Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, right after the fall of the Ottoman Empire during World War 1. With an overwhelming proportion of Muslims, Turkey's unique geographic location (bridging Asia and Europe) has long been a link between the West and the Orient, and hence been a centre of attention.
The issue of headscarves, it seemed, was not something that was going to be short-lived.
The debate over headscarves started ever since AKP took power, and hence arises the question: Is the Western media using this debate as a means to cause unwanted bad publicity to Turkey, hence thwarting its bid to join the European Union? The West views Turkey as a Muslim country with some land in Europe, while the Middle East regards Turkey as a Western country which had never faced the brunt of the sufferings of Muslims. Turkey is literally stuck in between two civilizations. It is both in Europe and Asia, and that is the problem.
But, Turkey's non inclusion in the EU has nothing to do with this Clash of the Civilizations theory. Had Turkey not had a majority Muslim population, EU's parliament might have let Turkey enter its fold quite some time ago. However, there are other factors at play for which Turkey itself is to blame. Turkey has a huge unemployed population, a population that is now inundating the labor market, and thus having detrimental effects on its economy. But I don't get it: isn't this availability of labor going to help the EU countries (who are recently going through the baby-boom phase?). But I don't know, EU of course, has its reasons.
The frustration among young and middle-aged Turks today is anything but not visible. Thousands of women in Hijab had flooded the streets in retaliation of the forestalling of the Court's order (that disallowed headscarves in universities). And their movement has succeeded, the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the headscarf, showing the cause about freedom of expression.
If not soon, then in the long term, the West will have to bear the brunt of disallowing a nation that had issued hundreds of legislations to liberalize its economy, tailored every aspect of its country and constitution, making them compatible for the EU mode, and can give many developed nations a run for their money in different aspects of life. Turkey has helped the West at times of need, and is almost an icon to the Muslim world, as one of the most peaceful Muslim nations of the world. But if situations continue to be like this, the time is not far when Turkey too will recede into the chaos and confusion characteristic to Middle Eastern countries.
Enjoy :P
Hey man, here is an article i scrapped, its not directly related, but it mite be of some help
Turkey : Of the Hijab and the European Union
Mustafa Kemal Attaturk once remarked "A nation which makes the final sacrifice of life and freedom does not get beaten". This spirit as such, has remained in the Turks, but Attaturk is in a bad position indeed. Attaturk is and will be remembered for his initiatives that he espoused for the then newly formed Turkey, among them the spirit of tolerance, accommodation and secularism: ideas that remain on high esteem.
However, these views were good meaning back then, but as nations age, so do the views of their citizens evolve. To some, Attaturk remains an overpowering national icon, but to others, Attaturk embodies the traits of Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan, the state, which is availing and tuning his memory, for its own purpose of oppression.
So, is the secular Turkey of Attaturk's vision dying a slow and painful death?
January's events in Istanbul confirmed the prophesies of western analysts, that the secular Turkey would fall, its secularity breached. When the AKP took power in 2002, an argument was genuinely put forward by many a policy scholar, that never in the past had any political party come to power with its roots in Islam as had been the case in Turkey. Several scandals (of reportedly western reportage) revealed that the spouses of many ministers donned the headscarves that were forbidden under Turkey's secular constitution. Many within mainstream society and beyond harbored a suspicion that the AKP had a secret religious agenda, with Islamic backing, that could heavily rupture Turkey's secular fabric.
This perception was realized in early February, when the Turkish Supreme Court forestalled a bill that would have permitted the wearing of head-scarves at Universities. Turkey's secular constitution bans female students at Universities from wearing head-scarves. However, some government officials state that this clause in the constitution disallows many a Muslim Hijabi girl from attaining education and it is also clearly an act of violation of the right to personal freedom. So, in carrying out their landmark ruling, the Justices assumed that had this ruling been positive, Turkey's dogmatic secular principles would have been violated.
Turkey is and has been a democratic, secular, Constitution-based Republic with a modern political system founded as early as 1923, under the guidance of Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, right after the fall of the Ottoman Empire during World War 1. With an overwhelming proportion of Muslims, Turkey's unique geographic location (bridging Asia and Europe) has long been a link between the West and the Orient, and hence been a centre of attention.
The issue of headscarves, it seemed, was not something that was going to be short-lived.
The debate over headscarves started ever since AKP took power, and hence arises the question: Is the Western media using this debate as a means to cause unwanted bad publicity to Turkey, hence thwarting its bid to join the European Union? The West views Turkey as a Muslim country with some land in Europe, while the Middle East regards Turkey as a Western country which had never faced the brunt of the sufferings of Muslims. Turkey is literally stuck in between two civilizations. It is both in Europe and Asia, and that is the problem.
But, Turkey's non inclusion in the EU has nothing to do with this Clash of the Civilizations theory. Had Turkey not had a majority Muslim population, EU's parliament might have let Turkey enter its fold quite some time ago. However, there are other factors at play for which Turkey itself is to blame. Turkey has a huge unemployed population, a population that is now inundating the labor market, and thus having detrimental effects on its economy. But I don't get it: isn't this availability of labor going to help the EU countries (who are recently going through the baby-boom phase?). But I don't know, EU of course, has its reasons.
The frustration among young and middle-aged Turks today is anything but not visible. Thousands of women in Hijab had flooded the streets in retaliation of the forestalling of the Court's order (that disallowed headscarves in universities). And their movement has succeeded, the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the headscarf, showing the cause about freedom of expression.
If not soon, then in the long term, the West will have to bear the brunt of disallowing a nation that had issued hundreds of legislations to liberalize its economy, tailored every aspect of its country and constitution, making them compatible for the EU mode, and can give many developed nations a run for their money in different aspects of life. Turkey has helped the West at times of need, and is almost an icon to the Muslim world, as one of the most peaceful Muslim nations of the world. But if situations continue to be like this, the time is not far when Turkey too will recede into the chaos and confusion characteristic to Middle Eastern countries.
Enjoy :P
