"Veiled tensions
Nobody is surprised any more and thus visible tension may not be as much as expected. This does not mean peace, of course. The chief of the Court talks of living together etc many anchormen in TV news teasingly smile when they report the news (Mehmet Ali Birand spotted), even some 'left-liberals' seem to be happy but long term divisions consolidate.... Now some say this is the law we have to respect but would they obey if the decision were different. I wonder some generals who declared trust to the Law, would do the same otherwise.. Anyway what the heck. I have some personal news to declare soon!
Veiled tensions
Turkey faces difficult times after headscarf rulingFears for Turkish ruling party as court overturns headscarf law | World news | The Guardian
No problem with religious freedom for the majority?
Despite the fierce reaction shown by secularist factions to recent statements made by Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, the truth is that in our nation, whether you are talking about the Sunnis or the Alevis, there are some quite serious problems where religious freedoms are concerned.Turkish court upholds headscarf ban
Turkey's secular establishment won an important battle on Thursday after the country's top court struck down a move to allow girls to wear the Muslim headscarf at universityTurkey Upholds College Scarf Ban - TIME
Thursday, Jun. 05, 2008 By PELIN TURGUT/ISTANBULTurkey's pro-Islam governing party was handed a devastating legal defeat Wednesday when the country's top court ruled that a constitutional amendment to allow women in headscarves on university campuses was anti-secularist and hence unlawful."
On the court’s headscarf decision
The Constitutional Court has yet to announce its decision on constitutional amendments that lifted a long-standing headscarf ban on university campuses.Two Strikes Against the Headscarf. Three Strikes and AKP is Out.
With a vote of nine to two, Turkey’s Constitutional Court decided yesterday to annul constitutional amendments that would have allowed women to wear the Muslim headscarf at Turkish universities. This decision came despite the fact that last month the court rapporteur Osman Can had recommended that the case be thrown out, arguing that while the court had the right to examine whether the passage of a constitutional amendment was procedurally flawed, it could not pass judgment on its substance. The report was non-binding on the court members. The court’s decision to annul the constitutional changes passed by parliament despite the court’s own evaluation that the case is unsound is a litmus test for the fate of the other major case before the same court, that is, for closing down the ruling AK Party and banning 71 of its politicians from politics. That indictment depends heavily on the constitutional changes for lifting the university headscarf ban as evidence that the AKP is undermining secularism. if the court had followed the rapporteur’s advice and declined to hear the case, thereby leaving the constitutional changes in place, this would have seriously undermined its case against the AKP. Many observers see the court’s decisions as judicial activism and some as an attempted state-sponsored coup against the government.
Turkish leaders face tense summer
By David O'ByrneBBC News, Istanbul
Turkey faces a long, hot and potentially tense summer after the constitutional court voted to overturn an amendment which would have allowed female students to wear Islamic headscarves on university campuses."
Court annuls Turkish headscarf reform
Turkey's highest court blocks government moves to allow college students to wear Muslim headscarves.Court annuls Turkish headscarf bill, blow to government | International | Reuters
MAM Hears the Music
Mavi Boncuk
Nasreddin Hodja had students from out of town. During the day he instructed them at the medrese and at night he and his wife accommodated them in their own home. One evening, the Hodja and his young students were returning back from a long day's study at the medrese. On their way home, they saw a couple of thieves in front of a shop. One of the men was filing the lock on the door with a rasp and the other one was watching him. The students, not realizing that the two men were intending to rob the store, asked the Hodja what they were doing. Nasreddin Hodja was in no mood to get involved with two burly robbers, but at the same time, he didn't want his students to think that he was witnessing a crime without doing anything about it. So, he decided to lie about what was going on.
`One of them is playing the saz and the other is listening to the music.' he explained evasively.
`But Hodja Effendi, what kind of music is this?' the boys protested, `There is no sound.'
`Oh, there will be sound,' the Hodja reassured them, `this is a special saz, its music will be heard tomorrow morning when the shop owner returns.'
Recording: "Hello, please press 1 if you wish to be listened to by the Police; press 2 if you wish to be listened to by the Gendermarie; press 3 if you wish to be listened to by MIT [national intelligence organization]. If you are Onder Sav [CHP MP] don't do anything, we will call you..."
Source: Penguen Weekly Humor Magazine, June 5, 2008
