Recep Tayyip Erdogan Quotes
A headscarf cannot be a political symbol…. If all political parties allowed women to wear a headscarf if they wanted, there would be no political symbol …. A woman who covers her head does so because of her beliefs not because of politics.
Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey (Welfare Party), Mayor of Istanbul, Turkey (Welfare Party), Interview PBS, Charlie Rose Show, September 27, 2007
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
He is often referred to as The Reformer as he was a modernist. In particular, the told his people that there was no religious obligation is Islam for wearing a veil or a burka. These are just customs. Yet most Muslims still believe that veils and burkas were required by God. The only Koranic statement on the subject simply says that women should dress modestly. Despite his efforts, veils and burkas are still required by most Afghani families and most people think the requirement is religious.
This was another historical reality that shocked traditionalists. There was nothing in the Koran or Islamic scripture requiring women to wear veils and burkas. Many Muslims and non-Muslims, to this day, do not realize that.
This is a very Jeffersonian type statement.
In 1925 his administration had passed a law banning the wearing of the traditional Muslim hat.
This is the famous sura that has been interpreted to require women to be covered, wear the chador or burka completely covering them or just a headscarf as other Muslims interpret it. Note that a literal reading does not require complete covering. Fundamentalists in Islam do not only rely on the precise literal statement through they would never dispute it. But many would believe that it is metaphorical for not revealing anything that might be stimulating to men. The sura goes on to list those male relatives who are exempted. These are the same as those where marriage is forbidden.
This quotation illustrates the difficulty when a jurisdiction adopts an established religion. From a freedom point of view, it is bad that Hamas insisted on all these rules for Muslims, but when they insist that Christians (and others) follow them as well, it becomes very difficult to have a harmonious society.
In a country like Saudi Arabia, such a statement would be very radical. However, before the Arab Spring in Tunisia, that country was much more modern than most Arab nations and headscarfs were not required nor was there much social pressure for them except in the rural areas. So this was a status quo statement opposing the Islamic Parties which advocated mandatory traditional dress for women.
The Ataturk reforms modernized Turkey and turned it into the most modern and democratic of the Islamic countries. However, there were always forces and populist governments that tried to erode the Ataturk reforms—especially secularism.
This type of religious sexism is not unique to Islam. Fundamentalist Christians place women in a secondary role as do fundamentalist orthodox Jews although both allow a man to take only one wife. The Islamic scripture tells us that the Prophet allowed multiple wives only if the man had the resources to care for the wives and all the children. 4 is the maximum.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a Turkish politician serving as the current President of Turkey. He previously served as Prime Minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to election victories in 2002, 2007, and 2011 before being required to stand down upon his election as President in 2014. He later returned to the AKP leadership in 2017 following the constitutional referendum that year. Coming from an Islamist political background and self-describing as a conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration.
