Labor's friends are in Turkish Supreme Court not in Ireland

international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Friday June 06, 2008 19:39 by Sevinch Karaca - WSM-Personal Capacity nazire.sevinc at gmail dot com

Turkish Supreme COurt Uphelds Decision banning headscarves in Universities

Labor has friends in Turkey, maybe R.Quinn should run for elections in Turkey to replace AKP who is also facing ban and closure. For more on the case http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/world/2008/0606/121269....html

How wonderful that Labor has a significant opinion on something which won them friends from Fina Gael, and oh, spin, spin, spin. It has been a while we did not have a juicy controversy.

You are the main opposition party suffering decline, you have not come up with a substantial position as an opposition party on any of the major issues of the “labor” class in a long while, you are not trusted, you need to recover, you need a come back gig, regain and reclaim your “radicalism” but you cant risk too much public opposition; there is always Muslim women's hijab, such a small group whose spineless self declared representatives are good for nothing but doing politics over women and women's cover, because they have little else to say about real issues of Muslims in this country such as high levels of female unemployment (Allah only knows why?), general unemployment, discrimination, isolation, domestic violence, poverty, homophobia, racism, sexism, misogyny and so on. Taking only the defensive positions, because the only offensive position they are able to take is against Muslim women and not against the status quo.

As a woman raised in a majority Muslim Turkey, I have not consented to this kind of representation.

However it is important to state that banning the headscarf is another attack by the Turkish State on personal freedoms which ironically served lots of free spin to AKP with the allies to be won in the EU, although AKP delivered nothing substential for women's rights and workers' rights. As Islamist Feminists and main stream media banter along about the headscarf, anyone from inside dare to speak against the religion and Sharia face severe condemnation. Political correctness is an easily crossed line when it comes to hijab and burka and scarf. It costs nothing but a bit of publicity when you have a go with it and people will not be likely to change their votes in the opinion of the author of this piece. Remaining mindfull about real issues of women's strugle in Turkey, the motive and timing of the decision of the Supreme Court creates a sham for Turkey.