http:\/\/www.radikal.com.tr\/politika\/chpli_safak_pavey_gelecek_olimpiyat_tanitimina_kimi_koyacaksiniz-1158364<\/a><\/p>\nPavey is disabled with a prosthetic arm and a leg but the Parliamentary dress code forces her to wear a skirt exposing her artificial leg. Welcoming turbaned women deputies to the chamber, she called on them to show the same sensitivity for the rights of others, mentioning country\u2019s Alevis and Christian minorities among them.<\/p>\n
Ms Pavey talked about girls made to cover at the age of 5 and young girls forced into marriage at 15. She told the Parliament \u201cThere is a knife-edge relationship between a head scarf and freedom.\u00a0 On one hand, it represents freedom of religion, but on the other, the pressure exerted by religion\u201d, adding, <\/i>\u00a0\u201cThe greatest insurance for religious freedom is not about controlling our future with religious guidance but providing flawless secularism.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Accusing the governing party of hubris and intolerance of other\u2019s life styles,\u00a0 Safak Pavey asked \u201cIf you destroy us, who will you showcase in your next Olympic bid<\/i>\u201d referring to the promotional film used in the unsuccessful Olympic bid by Turkey which featured \u00a0no woman with a headscarf.<\/p>\n
STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION <\/b><\/p>\n
Everyone has the right to freedom of conscience and religion, both in public or private. It was long overdue for Turkey to sweep aside obsolete notions such as the ban on headscarves. The argument that it represents a political symbol is absurd, too. In a democracy, people have the right to display political symbols, as long as it doesn\u2019t convey hatred and incitement to violence.<\/p>\n
Whilst I have always been an unconditional proponent of universal rights to freedom of conscience and religion, I also passionately defend the right of everyone not to be a believer.<\/p>\n
The governing party AKP\u2019s majoritarian understanding of democracy has already manifested itself in an increasingly authoritarian political system.<\/p>\n
Similar majoritarian interpretations of religious freedoms in Turkey can be seen in the treatment of Christian and Jewish minorities. Their grievances over owning, maintaining and transferring communal and individual property and training their clergy have not been fully addressed. The Alevi minority\u2019s demand that their religious places, cemevleri , to be \u00a0considered a place of worship has not \u00a0been met , either.<\/p>\n
Despite frequent protestations by the prime minister Erdogan and his ministers, women who refuse to conform to conservative religious norms, especially in small towns in Turkey, come under strong pressure.<\/p>\n
A television presenter can be sacked after a government minister makes a critical comment about her cleavage showing.<\/p>\n
High schools already started segregating boys and girls. A leading theologian can tell pregnant women not to parade themselves on the street and another suggests \u201cgender equality\u201d is not compatible with \u201cfamily values \u201cand \u201c there is no such thing as a woman being a partner in a marriage\u201d.<\/p>\n
The prime minister openly declares that he wants to raise a devout and pious generation and \u00a0Turkish\u00a0 women should produce at least three children each.<\/p>\n
Homophobia and misogyny go hand in hand with increasing violence against women and other vulnerable groups in society.<\/p>\n
Widening gender inequality does not seem to worry the government with its big ambitions to turn the country into an economic powerhouse. In recent years, women in Turkey have lagged far behind international standards on almost every measure.<\/p>\n
A recent World Economic Forum Gender Index placed Turkey close to the bottom. It ranked 120th<\/sup> out of 136 countries surveyed.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/datablog\/2013\/oct\/25\/world-gender-gap-index-2013-countries-compare-iceland-uk?CMP=twt_gu<\/a><\/p>\nIt is one thing to defend freedom of religion and the right for the women to dress as they wish and another to be na\u00efve enough to expect those whose rights you would be prepared to die for to respect yours in return.<\/p>\n
As a woman, I have no illusions about life in a non-secular Muslim country. I have lived or travelled in many. I haven\u2019t seen a single country where women, children, religious minorities and non-believers had fared well.<\/p>\n
While applauding those that support the right of women to dress freely, I also urge an open and honest debate about what it means for a woman to be living under social and religious constraints, hiding behind a veil, a niqab or a burqa, whether done willingly or by coercion.<\/p>\n
Cultural attitudes toward women and religious justifications to enforce piety through gender segregation and subjugation need to be challenged openly.<\/p>\n
Now, that would be really breaking a taboo in Turkey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Parliament in Turkey finally removed an anomaly.\u00a0 It broke the taboo on women deputies entering the Parliament with a headscarf. The never-ending debate about hijab in public office was reignited in Turkey when four female MP\u2019s from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) attended Parliament with their heads covered. On September 30, the AKP […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}