Okay so I have been meaning to write something about the hijab ban in Turkey, what it meant for the religious community, what did women experience and I wanted to tie in my personal experience into it. I am too lazy to write an actual piece but I will make thread now coz BOREDOM
It all starts on February 27, 1997. (not really it goes way back but we'll start here) The government was a coalition of the religious Refah Party (RP) and Doğru Yol Party(Straight Path LOL they weren’t religious).
Heads of the parties:
Necmettin Erbakan was the prime minister and this came after years of founding different parties that would be closed down by the state. Just for context, this is the tradition that Erdoğan and AKP came out of.
A young Erdoğan:
What happened is called a postmodern coup; the military didn't conduct an actual coup, they forced the gvt to resign.They called it a “balance setting for democracy”.This meant that they weren't happy with the “democracy” so they believed they had the right to interfere&“fix it.”
The main points they wanted changed were:restructuring the education system & making sure all Quran & Islamic teaching was centralised&approved by the government. These two combined were done to prevent religious education&to control the religious education they couldn't prevent.
(The point about the education system is a thread on its own if not an actual article so I will leave it for now.)
The third point is self-evident: ending the activities of religious groups. (tarikat in Turkish from Arabic tariqa)
Fourth, limiting the “Green Capital” (yeşil sermaye, refers to the businesses owned by Muslims) As this clearly goes against liberal market policies I have no idea how the Great America let this one pass but whatevs.
Fifth, finally and most importantly, full reinforcement of the dress code law. This was introduced in the early Republican era to “modernise” the state and the nation.

There was an actual law named "Hat Law" and it was as ridiculous as it sounds. I'll leave you to interpret.
Practically, this meant the banning of the hijab/headscarf (but also men’s religious clothing but this was not very relevant in the 90s) in the public sphere. Women were allowed to wear the hijab, (thank you oh great modern liberal democracy)
but we were not allowed to wear it in schools, universities, and we sure as hell were not allowed to wear it if we wanted work in any state job. This meant, there were no hijabi doctors, teachers, academics, police, soldiers etc.
There weren’t many before either because this act was not out of the blue, it was part of an existing process of pushing religious Turks, especially women, out of the public sphere. In Turkey, for whatever reason, the private realm tends to mimic the public one.
So this meant that hijabi women did not have many great opportunities to, you know, actually live their lives.
There were already many hijabis enrolled in universities&many in different job sectors.They were given a choice.Take it off or leave. My mum left her job,but obviously not everyone can afford to do that.
PS: My mum is a revert and moved to Turkey to live in Muslim country. LOL
As for universities, students protested for weeks. They were beaten up by the police. Hijabs ripped off their heads. There were “convincing rooms” set up to convince hijabis to take their hijabs off. Police would take a hijabi woman. Into a room. ALONE.
As for universities, students protested for weeks. They were beaten up by the police. Hijabs ripped off their heads. There were “convincing rooms” set up to convince hijabis to take their hijabs off. Police would take a hijabi woman. Into a room. ALONE.
As for universities, students protested for weeks. They were beaten up by the police. Hijabs ripped off their heads. There were “convincing rooms” set up to convince hijabis to take their hijabs off. Police would take a hijabi woman. Into a room. ALONE.
As for universities, students protested for weeks. They were beaten up by the police. Hijabs ripped off their heads. There were “convincing rooms” set up to convince hijabis to take their hijabs off. Police would take a hijabi woman. Into a room. ALONE.
As for universities, students protested for weeks. They were beaten up by the police. Hijabs ripped off their heads. There were “convincing rooms” set up to convince hijabis to take their hijabs off. Police would take a hijabi woman. Into a room. ALONE.
... to either convince them that they do not need to wear the hijab or that if they do they shouldn’t go to uni.

A book written on the issue classifies it as a psychological torture technique.
NOW. I did not experience these, I was a mere baby when they were taking place. I still lived through the hijab ban tho. When I started wearing the hijab, I was 13, I had to make a decision. Did I want a good education for free but take my hijab off at school?Or did I want to go
private school which my parents couldn't really afford&the hijab ban was still reinforced?(we could wear it indoors,but we could not go out to the schoolyard or look out the window, and if someone from the state came we were either hidden or forced to take it off)
So I did both and found out that you can’t get good education in Turkey because it sucks. I started at a state school, switched to private, switched back to state and switched back to private. In my final year of highschool the hijab ban was lifted and
me and my friends celebrated by going out to the schoolyard during school hours.We didn’t even do anything we just sat under the sun. A teacher who hadn’t heard the news came running towards us to tell us to go inside. She joined us after we told her.
So now that the ban has been lifted all is good right? Hell no. The ban was lifted in 2014. Enough time has not passed for us to have dealt with the trauma and for state and society to give hijabi women equal opportunities.
Things are getting better but we honestly do not have many allies. The fact that we were banned from education for so long, like I said it all goes way back, perpetuated the idea that hijabi women are uneducated, backwards, ignorant creatures.
Although very few people would actually say that to our faces today (they used to yell it to our faces) the perception exists. And not just in secular circles. I actually don’t know if people are aware when they do it but they do do it. There is discrimination.
I know some horror stories from today&from the past but I will keep them for now. I will however share some videos&links. First up, drama at graduation.This sis graduated at the top of her class but wasn't allowed to join the graduation ceremony. 1995.
Drama at the parliament. First hijabi MP. Kicked out of the parliament. Citizenship revoked. Kicked out of the country. Her family was put through hell. (The applause is a form of protest. They are protesting her existence in the parliament)
There is a great art exhibition on now highlighting the process & the issues. https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/the-story-of-the-february-28-coup-as-never-told-before-34187
The story of the February 28 coup, as never told before

When the secular movement banned the public use of the hijab, life changed for Turkish women. This exhibition shows their perspective.

https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/the-story-of-the-february-28-coup-as-never-told-before-34187
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