BY ISMAIL KUCUKKAYA
AKSAM- All the newspapers and TV policy shows are talking about the headscarf issue. All the sides have expressed their views in a clear, determined way. Only one has yet to speak. Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit yesterday reiterated the Turkish Armed Forces' (TSK) views on the issue in two sentences. In sum, Buyukanit said everybody knows the TSK's views on the issue and so there's no point in repeating them. Visiting Macedonian Defense Minister Lazar Elenovski probably had the shock of his life. He must have been surprised when he saw the dozens of satellite vans, cameras and reporters. Maybe at first he thought they all wanted to cover the strong relations between Turkey and Macedonia, but he must have soon been disabused of this idea.
Unfortunately, debate over the headscarf issue is of a low quality and favors form over substance. It has created public polarization and worn all the parties down. The headscarf is a multidimensional and ambiguous issue. It seems that from now on, its legal - not political - dimension will be in the foreground. The military's stance is already known. It's a smart strategy for the military not to weigh in on this tiring discussion. It wants to protect itself from being worn down. They will see how the process goes.
Before Buyukanit's statement, two parties forged cooperation on a social problem. They set up a commission and looked for a solution. Two top courts published a declaration containing harsh words and warnings. This can happen under the rule of law. In all developed countries, sometimes the judiciary and politicians get into fierce arguments. The headscarf issue centers around both basic rights and freedoms, and protecting secularism and the republic. The military remembered its position and chose to stay in the background.
Political alliances over the issue are more complicated than they may seem. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) took a very reasonable strategy. We should recognize that the headscarf issue turned into a mechanism against secularists. As long as it remains unresolved, it helps the people described as Islamists. Groups from many different views and factions have united under the glue of the headscarf issue. As a political tool, the headscarf has given benefits which aren't deserved.
Considering the issue from a humanitarian perspective, we don't allow girls wearing headscarves to enter universities, but what about Islamic boys? They can enter universities. Why has political Islam continued its inexorable rise, despite all the years of bans? Could there be a problem somewhere? Certain reservations were taken into consideration in consensus arrangements between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Now the definition of a ban has been made for the first time. We're seeing sentences like, `Girls wearing headscarves can enter universities, but not public institutions, primary schools or high schools.' If this line is being drawn, we should see two sides of this. But now it's the law's turn. Obviously, the issue will be brought to the Council of State and the Constitutional Court. Then we should see the legal interpretation of the solution produced by politicians. What Buyukanit did was right.