Wearing the Headscarf

Turkey has been embroiled in a huge political debate for the last couple years about whether women should be allowed to wear the Islamic headscarf in public. So huge, in fact, that it led to both a referendum and talk of a military coup. As I understand it, the issue is still not quite settled.

But on the ground, it's clear that the headscarf has won.

It's a pretty mild form of headscarf, by Islamic standards. You do see something like this occasionally, but people dressed like this seem to be tourists from places like Iran:


(And yes, by the way, that's a piece of the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, on display in the Istanbul Archeological Museum. The Germans and the British weren't the only people who looted the Middle East of its antiquities ... )

Anyway, in Turkey the preferred form of scarf is much looser and more colorful, often coordinated with the woman's coat:


In general, the overt level of Muslim piety in Turkey seems pretty low. The call to prayer is broadcast from the mosques, and clearly heard on the streets, five times a day. (It's actually quite beautiful and exotic.) But no one seems to pay attention; it's not like what I've heard about Egypt, where the muezzin chants and the people unroll rugs and fall to the street to worship.

And not every woman, particularly the younger ones, wears a scarf.

But enough do that the outcome of this debate seems pretty much preordained.