Fighting the Veil

What renders the problem potentially insoluble—unless an overwhelming majority will tolerate the frustration of its clearly expressed will—is the unamendable clauses in the constitution (there are two others), plus the court's breathtakingly broad interpretation of them. Imposed in the aftermath of the 1980 coup, they are a continuation of military rule by other means. Certainly, a 1983 plebiscite ratified the constitution, but was it a real choice? And anyway, does democracy permit one generation to make decisions binding on its children? In fact, a new, more liberal constitution is in the works, a possible face-saving solution.

What the minority seek to preserve is the modus vivendi of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founding father of modern Turkey, who encouraged women to take an active part in the life of the young republic, and the elite willingly ditched their headscarves in conformity with 1920s modernity. Conservative women, who had no wish to participate anyway, were allowed to remain covered. Everyone accepted the deal. That changed in the late 1970s, when the daughters of Turkey's increasingly prosperous conservative hinterland sought education and careers. Many, however, refused to swap their headscarves for participation. What the secular establishment saw was the nose of the proverbial Islamist camel poking under the tent flap. Let it remain and the whole beast would soon be inside—and all women would be obliged to cover themselves. And that could be just the start. The result: the headscarf was banned on campus in 1982.

The secularists are half right: there is a camel. It is not Islamist, however; it is female. The vanguard of covered women do not merely want a university education. In time they will demand the repeal of regulations that preclude them from careers such as law and politics by banning headscarves from public buildings. Smart secularists would use the probationary period when headscarves are only on campus to promote antidiscrimination laws protecting a woman's right to choose her clothing, as we would probably do in America. They even have a potential ally in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He asserts that wearing a headscarf is a "woman's choice," a liberal position and perfectly respectable theologically. Secularists might also recognize that educated, successful, pious Muslim women are the best defense against real Islamists, a group of dyed-in-the-wool misogynists if ever there was one.

The odd thing is that the headscarf's most strident opponents are secular women. An American might suppose they would support their covered sisters' demand for a full place in society. The young, however, may be getting there. It is increasingly common in Turkey to see mixed groups of young women, some covered, some not, doing what young women do everywhere: shopping. All those who wish Turkey well must hope that such easy camaraderie is the future. But when?

Grenville Byford researches and writes about Turkey and the Muslim world. He is a former affiliate of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and currently lives in Paris.

© 2008