Word: kemalist
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...here is not simply the rights of individual women to don the headscarf in the classroom, but what impact the repeal will have on women’s rights and secularism in the broader context of Turkey’s political climate. Despite the seemingly heavy-handed nature of Kemalist secularism, it is borne of a real danger posed by religious conservatism to the freedom and autonomy of women in Turkey. Proponents of the repeal claim that the ban has cruelly forced women to choose between their faith and educational future. But such a claim presumes that women...
...principles. For the the sake of the nation, says Koseoglu, they must be defeated at the polls. "We want to expose the true face of the AKP and make sure no vote is wasted." The little outfit to which he belongs, formed a year ago under the title the Kemalist Politics Group, is one of scores that have emerged in in the run-up to parliamentary elections on July 22. In a rare expression of political will from a middle class that has traditionally seen scant need to get involved, these groups have organized dozens of marches that have brought...
...Young secularist women say they are particularly worried. Pinar Ozkan, 23, an events organizer who is a member of the Kemalist Politics Group, says her company recently organized a gathering for several junior AKP officials in Istanbul. When she offered them a tray of tea, she claims, they refused to be served by a woman whose hair was uncovered. "I felt like a second-class citizen," says Ozkan, dressed in gold lamé heels, a miniskirt and white tank top. "As a woman in Turkey, my freedom is very important. We owe that freedom to Ataturk. I will never give...
...That doesn't mean they're no longer active in the neighborhood, however. Indeed, the party recently opened a branch office in Kadikoy - its bright orange-and-blue party flags fluttering conspicuously over the local Starbucks and its well-heeled clientele. The office is not far from where the Kemalist group meets to plot the AKP's downfall. Eksioglu says he likes to go there to listen to the catcalls from the street: "I don't care about them. I believe in what I am doing...
...grew out of that tradition, filling the ranks of the bureaucracy and profiting from its largesse, has dominated Turkey's political and economic landscape for most of the last century. The Turkish army has served as a guarantor of this successful arrangement. The self-appointed guardians of Ataturk's "Kemalist" legacy launched four coups in response to perceived threats; the latest, characterized as a "soft coup" because tanks did not actually roll in the streets, toppled a forerunner of the AKP, the Welfare Party, in 1997 after it was deemed to be flirting too closely with political Islam...