For human rights advocates in Turkey, all political alliances are necessarily alliances of convenience. The reasons for this are myriad,…
Human rights in the era of the AKP
The headscarf controversy
Scholars in this discussion weigh in on the social implications of secularism and political change in Turkey.
On Turkish laicism
In a somewhat surprising move, Turkey's Constitutional Court announced today in a very close vote its decision to not ban…
Turkey’s coup by court
Running like a geological fault beneath Turkey is a long-standing split between the popularly elected government and the state. The…
The rise and fall of the AKP
Later this week, the Turkish Constitutional Court is expected to hand down a decision that will determine the fate of…
Beyond the headscarf
Last March, the Chief Public Prosecutor of Turkey's High Court of Appeals opened a closure case against the ruling Justice…
The headscarf and citizenship in Turkey
In Turkey, the headscarf is usually taken as an emblem of tradition and backwardness, and its removal from public life…
The headscarf controversy
The analysis of the headscarf controversy cannot simply be based on arguments of liberal politics. Rather, it has to be…
A headscarf affair, a women’s affair?
Women who are proponents of the headscarf distance themselves from secular models of feminist emancipation, but also seek autonomy from…
New freedoms in Turkey — for whom?
Turkey’s ban of the headscarf on university campuses -- rather than the headscarf itself -- has become a serious impediment…
Gender equality and Islamic headscarves
In Turkey there is now a great deal of controversy about proposed revisions to the constitution that would include lifting…