A Very American Debate in Turkey

When France banned the wearing of headscarves in schools, perhaps the most poignant retort was a sign - help by a group of scarfed women sitting on their former school's front lawn - which read: "Thank you for returning us to an age when women are not allowed to receive an education!"

Debates over the correct balance between religious liberty and civil rights are particularly entangling - and often produce strange bedfellows. Radical women's rights groups, liberal atheist secularists and diversity-adverse fundamentalist Christians have tended to support headscarf bans, for example - leaving mainstream religious communities alongside the ACLU in opposing the bans.

Turkey presently finds itself in the midst of nationwide demonstrations over this very issue.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's cogently responded:

"Are you not dividing society by accusing those who do not think or dress like you of being enemies of secularism and the regime? Are you not contradicting the fundamental philosophy of the republic... by thinking that universal values, freedoms and liberties are only valid for you? Are you not doing the most harm to the regime by abusing our uniting common values such as the republic, secularism and Atatürk for the sake of your ideological and political arguments?"

The West would do well to take note of the clash at its doorstep. Such disagreements are becoming far more familiar as Islamic peoples continue to migrate westward and secular groups become more ideologically emboldened. The "diversity-," "tolerance-," "civil rights-" respecting position is not entirely clear is matters which depend upon religious sensibilities.