Before the eighties, there was a very significant divide between the rural and urban spheres. Cosmopolitan Turkey readily accepted social and cultural reforms amidst a rapidly growing economy. The country’s per capita income today stands at nearly $5,000. There was now serious talk of joining the European Union. However, great economic growth was coupled with greater uncertainty for many. Income disparities became more pronounced. The lifestyles and incomes of the elite could compare favourably with the best that Europe had to offer, and there was a general flouting of all the tenets of Islam.

These developments did not make for great unity at home. The high growth rate also led to unprecedented urban migration. The assimilation of migrants in urban society was always a problem and remains one to this day. Migrants, even second- and third-generation migrants, face a subtle social stigma. Young women in such communities have increasingly taken to wearing the headscarf, partly in protest against this exclusion. By opting for the headscarf, they have apparently chosen their class identity over their gender identity. It is a move that has been applauded by their men. It is claimed that women had done this of their own volition. Wearing the scarf has been interpreted as a rejection of western values and crass consumerism and a demonstration of a simple faith in Islam.

While the headscarf has become a symbol of retaliation or oppression — depending on how one chooses to see it — it is perhaps not as retrogressive in Turkey as it is being made out to be. The general educational standards of women are improving all the time and nobody, not even those among the conservatives, objects to this. The laws with respect to domestic violence are very good, arranged marriages are becoming less common and polygamy is illegal. Research shows that only a maximum of 10 per cent of men are polygamous (Indian surveys indicate similar results).

... contd.