Here’s a fascinating article from the Financial Times about the Turkish crisis:
Turkey is on the verge of a grave crisis. The country’s governing party, which has roots in political Islam, and its secular-minded military are at odds.
The issues at stake are momentous – the presidency of the republic and the future direction of the country itself. But the story of the past few weeks is a tale of misunderstandings, sexism, snobbery, bruised egos and mutinous soldiers, from which nobody emerges with much credit.
One aside that I thought was really fascinating was the discussion of the candidacy of Nimet Cubukcu, one of two candidates considered by President Erdogan for the succession who met with approval from the military brass:
…The other was Nimet Cubukcu, who had the inestimable advantage of being a woman.
General Yasar Buyukanit, chief of the general staff, had already made clear the military’s views: the new president had to be secular “not just in words, but in essence”, the general said on April 12. But by April 20, he and his fellow generals appear to have indicated that they were happy with both possible candidates.
Though she is a member of the AKP, Ms Cubukcu does not wear the Muslim headscarf. Neither does Mr Gonul’s wife. That was a significant factor in securing the military’s blessing.
Not being entirely up on Turkish politics, I can’t say if the headscarf is a “wedge issue” in Turkey, their abortion or whatever, although the depiction of the conflict between (military) secularists and (moderate) Islamists would make it unsurprising. What to me is so compelling about this anecdote is the idea of the headscarf as a tangible visual symbol of what side you’re on–not just an “I Like Ike,” but an icon or absence thereof which is such a potent symbol because it is itself what is being debated. Half of the population has to make what is in some sense a political choice every morning. And because of this, the prospect of someone in power–someone who will become a visual presence–who embodies this choice truly does have an interesting appeal.
So anyway, interesting situation in Turkey that doesn’t have all that much to do with that. We’ll see what happens.
