US Based Human Rights Watch Dismayed at Turk Head Scarf Ban

The Turkish Court ruling on headscarves at universities seemed eminently sensible. Islamist dictum and influence result in a one way descent into intolerant, violent and sometimes deadly repression of human behavior. Only the American Left could be so blinded by ideology as to not notice. Their ideology and naivety will be well represented and presented in any Obama Administration. Hard core activists will rule.

HRW contradicts its own professed positions stated on its website:

...Our duty as activists is to expose and denounce as human rights violations those practices and policies that silence and subordinate women. We reject specific legal, cultural, or religious practices by which women are systematically discriminated against, excluded from political participation and public life, segregated in their daily lives, raped in armed conflict, beaten in their homes, denied equal divorce or inheritance rights, killed for having sex, forced to marry, assaulted for not conforming to gender norms, and sold into forced labor. Arguments that sustain and excuse these human rights abuses - those of cultural norms, "appropriate" rights for women, or western imperialism - barely disguise their true meaning: that women's lives matter less than men's. Cultural relativism, which argues that there are no universal human rights and that rights are culture-specific and culturally determined, is still a formidable and corrosive challenge to women's rights to equality and dignity in all facets of their lives.

We may be ruled by such fools.

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ANKARA (Reuters) NYT- A decision by Turkey's top court to annul a government reform which lifted a ban on Muslim headscarves at universities is a blow to freedom of religion and other fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.

Turkey's Constitutional Court overturned late on Thursday a reform which would have allowed students to wear the Muslim headscarf in universities. Analysts said the decision increased the chances that the AK Party would be closed down for alleged Islamist activities in a separate case at the same court.

"This decision means that women who choose to wear a headscarf in Turkey will be forced to choose between their religion and their education," Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

"This is a truly disappointing decision and does not bode well for the reform process," Cartner said.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch also criticized the ruling AK Party for failing to redraft Turkey's constitution entirely, which it said failed to protect human rights, despite launching a plan to do so after it was re-elected last year.

The secularist establishment, including army generals and judges, suspects the AK Party of harboring a hidden Islamist agenda. The party denies the accusations.

(Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)

Islam Just Fine With Islamists. Ask the Turks.

Happy Islamist, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

One of the enduring myths and beliefs of the Bush Administration is that the Islamist movement is a representation of a militant minority and given the democratic choice of free elections, a new modernist model will appear and revolutionize the Muslim world. Well the Turks just voted and it appears they are just fine with the Islamists. Imagine that, Muslims are just fine being Muslims.

Ruling party retains power in Turkey with landslide
Gulf News Report
Published: July 23, 2007, 00:13

Dubai: Turkey's ruling AK Party captured 48.1 per cent of the vote in a national election yesterday after two thirds of votes had been counted, CNN Turk television reported.

Two other parties crossed the country's high national threshold of 10 per cent to enter parliament.

The centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP) won 19.4 per cent and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) took 14.7 per cent, said the private broadcaster quoting partial returns.

"It is clear that we will be in power alone and that Turkey's stability will continue," a senior official of the Islamist-rooted AK Party, Salih Kapusuz, told Reuters.

Seventeen people were hurt yesterday in poll-related violence in Turkey as the country held legislative elections, pitting the Islamist-rooted government against the secular opposition.

Voting mandatory

Opinion polls show the Islamist-rooted AK Party winning a fresh five-year mandate but strong gains by the nationalist and secularist opposition parties could slash its majority and result in slower economic and political reforms.

"Our democracy will emerge from this election strengthened," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said as he and his wife Emine cast ballots in Uskudar constituency in Istanbul.

Many Turks postponed their holidays or returned home early to vote. Voting is compulsory in Turkey.

Horror Vacui...translation: "There is No Way Out."

In c.350 BC, Aristotle proclaims, in opposition to Leucippus, the dictum horror vacui or “nature abhors a vacuum”. He was talking about physics and was proved wrong. In politics the theory works just fine. The forces are aligning for the anticipated realignment in the Middle East. That realignment was prompted by the removal of Saddam and the failure to as yet establish a viable successor in Iraq. We can try and get out but we will be likely sucked back in by the blow-back from the firestorm brewing. Anyone have any ideas?

Iraqi FM: Turkey massing 140,000 troops

BAGHDAD - Turkey has massed 140,000 soldiers on its border with northern Iraq, Iraq's foreign minister said Monday, calling the neighboring country's fears of Kurdish rebels based there "legitimate" but better resolved through negotiation.

The Turkish military had no comment to the remarks by Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd from northern Iraq, and it was unclear where he got the figures. If they are accurate, Turkey would have nearly as many soldiers along its border with Iraq as the 155,000 troops which the U.S. has in the country.

Zebari's comments came amid calls by Turkey's military for the government to give it the green light to carry out military operations in northern Iraqi against the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.

"Turkey is building up forces on the border. There are 140,000 soldiers fully armed on the border. We are against any military interference or violation of Iraqi sovereignty," Zebari said in Baghdad.

Turkey has been pressuring the United States and Iraq to eliminate PKK bases in Kurdish-controlled parts of northern Iraq and has said it will carry out a cross-border offensive if necessary.

"Turkey's fears are legitimate but such things can be discussed," Zebari said. ""The perfect solution is the withdrawal of the Turkish forces from the borders."

He added: "No one wants a new military conflict in the region."

He said there had been no "Turkey military violation until now," citing artillery shelling and Turkish surveillance overflights.

Turkey has long complained of U.S. inaction against separatist rebels, who have escalated attacks inside Turkey in recent months. Last week, Turkey's military chief asked the government to set political guidelines for an incursion into northern Iraq.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Friday confirmed that detailed incursion plans were ready.

Zebari said that his government cannot send its troops to secure the border with Turkey at a time when U.S. and Iraqi forces are fighting a deadly insurgency that has killed thousands of people.

"Our military forces are over-occupied with securing the streets and we do not have forces enough to open a new front. We do not want any conflict. However, no military violation has taken place till now," Zebari said.

Turkey has been battling separatist Kurdish rebels since 1984 in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people. There has been a recent surge in rebel attacks, and 67 soldiers have been killed this year. More than 110 rebels were killed in the same period, according to the Turkish military.

Zebari said the best way is to address Turkey's "legitimate security concerns" and revive the security and military commission which is made up of the united states, Iraq and Turkey.

Secularism Under Assault in Turkey.

It has been argued here and other like-minded blogs that the most welcome outcome in the conflict with radical Islam would be the triumph of secularism over theocracy. That is on the line in Turkey. What can we do, if anything, to ensure secularism succeeds in Turkey and possibly have that strengthened and spread throughout the Islamic world?

Turkish secularists in new rally BBC

Boats joined the rally alongside Izmir's seafront.

Hundreds of thousands of Turks have rallied in the city of Izmir to protest against any government plans to undermine Turkish secularism.
The major demonstration is the latest since the ruling AK Party nominated Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as its candidate for the country's presidency.

Many Turks suspect Mr Gul of having an Islamic agenda, something he denied before withdrawing from his candidacy.

Parliamentary elections scheduled for November are now to be held in July.

The AK Party - which has roots its in political Islam - argues that a general election will only prove that it commands widespread public support.

The government has also backed a constitutional reform package that would allow the president to be directly elected by the people.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford, in Istanbul, says an AK Party candidate would be likely to win any presidential vote.

Opposition alliances

The demonstration in Izmir - Turkey's third-largest city - was the fourth mass gathering in favour of the republic in as many weeks.

"These rallies have been useful in forcing the government to take a step back, " protester Neslihan Erkan told the Reuters news agency.

"The danger is still not over. These rallies must continue until there is no longer a threat."

Many secularists consider the government's efforts to confirm Mr Gul as president as evidence of a hidden Islamist political agenda.

Nationalist opposition parties boycotted two parliamentary votes on the issue.

They are now forming strategic alliances to try to weaken the ruling party at the upcoming elections, our correspondent adds.

The military, which regards itself as the guardian of Turkey's secularism, has also indicated its opposition to the AK Party's move.

Turkey is pivotal in the battle between secularism and Islamism

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk [Atatürk](1881-1938) the founder of the Turkish Republic and its first President

Huge rally for Turkish secularism Hat tip: desert rat

The rally is being described as a huge show of force
Tens of thousands of people are rallying in Istanbul in support of secularism in Turkey, amid a row over a vote for the country's next president.
The protesters are concerned that the ruling party's candidate for the post remains loyal to his Islamic roots.

The candidate, Abdullah Gul, earlier said he would not quit despite growing criticism from opponents and the army.

Mr Gul failed to win election in a first round vote in parliament as opposition MPs boycotted the vote.

They are also challenging its validity in the Constitutional Court.

An army statement on Friday accused the government of tolerating radical Islam and vowed to defend secularism.


ABDULLAH GUL

1950: Born in Kayseri
1991: Elected to parliament for pro-Islamist Welfare Party
2001: One of founders of AK
2002-03: Prime minister
2003: Foreign minister, leading EU accession talks

Profile: Abdullah Gul

Mr Gul has steered Turkey's European Union accession talks as foreign minister and is seen as less confrontational than Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development (AK) party.

"The president must be loyal to secular principles. If I am elected, I will act accordingly," he said after his nomination for the presidency.

But some analysts say he is closer to his religious roots, and his wife would be the first First Lady to wear a headscarf, a deeply divisive statement in Turkey.

BBC, full story here.

Background:
Atatürk is the founder of the concept of a modern reformed Islamic state. He undertook a series of reforms to "raise Turkey to the level of modern civilization" which can be grouped under five titles. Compare that to the damage done to modernism by our dear friends the Saudis.

1. Political Reforms

• Abolishment of the office of the Sultan (November 1922)
• Proclamation of the Republic (29 October 1923)
• Abolishment of the caliph (3 March 1924)

2. Social Reforms

• Recognition of equal rights to men and women (1926 - 1934)
• Reform of Headgear and Dress (25 November 1925)
• Closure of mausoleums and dervish lodges (30 November 1925)
• Law on family names (21 June 1934)
• Abolishment of titles and by-names (26 November 1934)
• Adoption of international calendar, hours and measurements (1925 - 1931)

3. Legal Reforms

• Abolishment of the Canon Law (1924 - 1937)
• Transfer to a secular law structure by adoption of Turkish Civil Code and other laws (1924 - 1937)

4. Reforms in the fields of education and culture

• Unification of education (3 March 1924)
• Adoption of new Turkish alphabet (1 November 1928)
• Establishment of Turkish Language and History Institutions (1931 - 1932)
• Regulation of the university education (31 May 1933)
• Innovations in fine arts

5. Economic Reforms

• Abolution of tithe
• Encouragement of the farmers
• Establishment of model farms
• Establishment of industrial facilities, and putting into effect a law for Incentives for the Industry

whit's two cents:
(I was preparing a post on the same subject so I'll piggyback on Duece's post.)

I was struck this week by two related news stories which if nothing else, document the spread of the cancer that is fundamentalist Islam. The first story, the big one getting all the attention, is the Presidential race in Turkey where there is great concern in the military as well as the general public about Abdullah Gul's loyalties and priorities; If elected, will he support and promote a secular Turkey or will his Islamic beliefs cause him to take the country in a more fundamentalist direction? Two weeks ago more than than 300,000 people gathered in support of a secular Turkey. This week, the military shook things up with their announcement that they are bound to support a secular Turkey. Gul and his party, sought to assure the public that they do not seek an Islamic government. I believe that Gul's party has been moving Turkey in a more fundamentalist direction and the Turkish public has serious misgivings about his loyalty to a secular Turkey. I do too. The question is whether Gul's party can be trusted but based on recent history the answer would appear to be no. Not because their intentions are not good but because there are too many fundamentalists who have shown no compunction in reasserting control in the name of Allah. How many suicide bombings and beheadings must we witness before we decide that these people are serious about their "mission for God." In this climate, the moderates will be overcome with violence and the despotism of the zealots. Unchecked, the Islamists will reign.

BBC is reporting on the Crackdown in Iran over Dress Codes.

Thousands of Iranian women have been cautioned over their poor Islamic dress this week and several hundred arrested in the capital Tehran in the most fierce crackdown on what's known as "bad hijab" for more than a decade.

It is the talk of the town. The latest police crackdown on Islamic dress has angered many Iranians - male, female, young and old.

But Iranian TV has reported that an opinion poll conducted in Tehran found 86% of people were in favour of the crackdown - a statistic that is surprising given the strength of feeling against this move.

Police cars are stationed outside major shopping centres in Tehran.

They are stopping pedestrians and even cars - warning female drivers not to show any hair - and impounding the vehicles and arresting the women if they argue back.

Middle-aged women, foreign tourists and journalists have all been harassed, not just the young and fashionably dressed.

Overnight the standard of what is acceptable dress has slipped back.

The story went on to quote a very plucky 15-year old girl who wanted the world to know that she and her friends were being oppressed. I hate to think about all the spirit of that girl being beaten out of her as she is eventually forced to conform to the misogyny of religious thugs.

In Turkey and Iran, real, everyday people are on the front lines struggling against militant Islam and it is paramount for the west to find ways to support the people who will resist the fundamentalists. It is up to us to figure out how to best help those who are "in the trenches."