Saturday, February 2, 2008

Secular Turks Protest Against Headscarf Reform




Yes! The secular Turks have massed to lash out at a government plan to allow muslim women to wear the muslim headscarf in public universities. Tens of thousands of people in Turkey are marching to protest this potential ruling which they feel brings the onset of islamic rules and influence into the government of Turkey.
Can you imagine the outcry of the MSM here in America if thousands of Americans took to the streets to protest this here? Haha. Chris Matthews would probably wear a hijab during his newscast just to show his support.
Check this out from one of the protestors:



"I am a true believer in Islam, but my religion is in my heart, not in what I wear. I feel that the headscarf will bring the country backwards," said Fatma Sarikaya, a retired engineer.

Turkey is going down a very dark and shaky path here. The Turks have always been the shining star for secularism and many see this pressure to allow this one diversion from public policy as the first signs of bowing to the demands of the jihadists. And we all know, once you bow to it, you'll be on your knees for all time.

Here's the full story from Reuters.



Secular Turks rally against Muslim headscarf reform

ANKARA (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of secular Turks rallied on Saturday against a plan by the government to allow women students to wear the Muslim headscarf at university, a move they say will usher in a stricter form of Islam in Turkey.
Parliament is expected to approve a constitutional amendment next week sponsored by the ruling AK Party, which has Islamist roots, and a nationalist opposition party that is aimed at easing a 1989 headscarf ban for students in higher education.
Secularists fear lifting the ban would, over time, lead to heavy pressure on uncovered women to wear the Muslim garment.
"Turkey is secular and will remain secular," shouted protesters as they waved national flags and banners of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, revered founder of the republic which separated religion and state, at his mausoleum in the capital Ankara.
Turkey's powerful secular establishment, which includes army generals, judges and university rectors, sees the headscarf as a symbol of radical Islam and believe it threatens the country's secular order. Turkey is 99 percent Muslim.

Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told a news conference on Saturday that the government wanted to expand freedoms to turn Turkey into a "first-class democracy where freedoms in all fields are enjoyed fully".

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