Головной платок в Турции: символ или политический инструмент?

Abstract

Headscarves are quite a controversial subject in Turkish society. The article reviews the issue in the context of the confrontation between traditional religious and secular values from the perspective of law enforcement. It notes the substantial impact exerted by the headscarf controversy on the political atmosphere and the higher education system in Turkey. The issue is often debated in the context of the threat to the principle of secularism. The previously widespread practice of excluding women who cover their heads from public sphere, especially universities, has become a serious domestic policy problem in Turkey that has been largely securitised by the judicial authorities. (A securitised issue is any aspect of public life that is portrayed by the state as an existential threat and is perceived as such by the population.) The situation changed significantly following the rise to power of the Justice and Development Party in 2022: against a backdrop of sweeping Islamisation of society, the headscarf issue was re-interpreted and re-semanticised. Chronologically, the article covers the period from the emergence of the Turkish Republic to the “Justice and Development Party era” and includes the latest initiatives launched by the ruling elite in late 2022. The article consistently analyses the concept of secularism in republican Turkey, examines the historical context of the headscarf issue and its transformation into a social problem, and provides a description of specific laws and court rulings on the subject. The article ends with a summary of the authors’ conclusions.