BY DERYA SAZAK
MILLIYET- This week the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) upheld Turkey’s prohibition of wearing headscarves in public places in the trial of Leyla Sahin, a young Turkish woman who violated Istanbul University’s dress code by wearing a headscarf on campus. This caused frustration in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The government expected such a ruling but hoped that it would come at the end of this year. When the court examined the headscarf issue, it emphasized the ‘symbolic’ aspects of the situation peculiar to Turkey. The essence of the ruling is as follows: ‘In Turkey, wearing a headscarf can be presented as an obligatory religious duty and so might put pressure on those who choose not to wear it. Limitations can be imposed for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others and to protect the public order.’ The ECHR ruling is a reflection of those Europeans who oppose ‘political Islam’ on the continent. Religious presence in secular areas is unwelcome, and so a line is drawn between religion and the state.
This is the AKP’s dilemma. After coming to power in the November 2002 elections, the AKP faithful tried to cool their ‘religious’ ardor in favor of strengthening their political legitimacy through foreign dynamics. Turkey’s EU bid was the most concrete means for this. The EU process was supposed to be a safeguard for democracy, reducing the army’s influence on the government. The EU might have been a ray of hope for poor people. The AKP thought that the EU’s pluralist structure, which supports freedoms, would facilitate certain openings for policies on faith and identity. The headscarf issue could have been solved in terms of the EU. Now the AKP must be feeling shock following the ECHR ruling. Now they understand that the place to express religious beliefs won’t be public places in Europe, which Turkey wants to be a part of. Even if our membership negotiations start at the end of this year, Turkey’s EU membership process will last for 10 years or more, and in that period of time neither the AKP, nor any other conservative political power can turn Turkey into an Islamic republic.