To pull the rug out from under the Justice and Development.. The Turkish People's Party introduces the veil in the electoral race

ANKARA

- The leader of the Turkish opposition Republican People's Party, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, recently launched a campaign seeking forgiveness from veiled, religious and conservative women.

The Kılıçdaroğlu campaign holds meetings with veiled women who were victims of decisions issued by courts established during the 1980 military coup led by Kenan Evren. They were denied entry to universities and work in government institutions and some non-governmental organizations.

Kılıçdaroğlu's move became the talk of politicians, analysts and the Turkish street, and opinions about it were contradictory.

There are those who saw it as an expression of pure and real intentions stemming from Kılıçdaroğlu’s desire for tolerance and an end to the polarization between those who embrace secular thought and the conservative religious segment that believes that secular thought was the reason for depriving it of its rights.

Kılıçdaroğlu campaign holds extensive meetings with veiled women affected by the decisions to ban the veil in Turkey previously (Anatolia)

A call for social reconciliation

Ahmet Nazif Yucel, Kılıçdaroğlu's chief adviser, says that the leader of his party has taken a brave step that no leader who has reached the leadership of the party has taken before, and that Kılıçdaroğlu intends to continue this campaign despite the objections of the popular base that adheres strongly to secular thought.

Yucel adds - in an interview with Al Jazeera Net - that "Kilicdaroglu started his campaign after he became sure that the AKP is exploiting the religion factor to expand its popular base. He asks forgiveness and tolerance from all and looking to a better future for the country.

The adviser points out that Kılıçdaroğlu's campaign is not limited to asking for forgiveness from veiled women who were deprived of universities, especially in the late nineties of the last century, but rather includes all segments of society and everyone who was affected by the policies and decisions of his party in the past.

He asserts that Kilicdaroglu's ultimate goal in this campaign is to heal the wounds of the past, and that he wants to be remembered in the future as the leader who brought peace to society and achieved reconciliation between two opposing ideas that had disputed for nearly a century.

According to Yugel, "this campaign is a call for social reconciliation, to confront the mistakes of the past and to look to the future."

Adding that Kılıçdaroğlu is working to bring about a radical change in the party and seeks to diversify its popular base.

In this regard, Kilicdaroglu's advisor says that his party continues to prepare for the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections with conservative and religious parties such as "Al-Saada" and "Future" party led by former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

The advisor confirms that his leader's call is widely accepted in all parts of Turkey, indicating that the frequent meetings he holds with veiled women in various states enjoy great attendance and wide media attention.

'individual decision'

On the other hand, writer and political analyst Kenan Alpay believes that Kılıçdaroğlu's campaign stems from an individual decision, and does not reflect the vision of the popular base, which denies that the party has caused any tragedy in the past, and adheres to the secular thought that sees the issue of the veil inconsistent with the data and requirements of the modern era.

Alpay says - in a statement to Al Jazeera Net - that the evidence that Kılıçdaroğlu did not consult with the pillars of his party on the issue of asking forgiveness and tolerance for veiled women is that his deputy Bulent Tzjan learned about the campaign through a video clip Kılıçdaroğlu published through his own account on social networking sites.

"The votes of the Republican People's Party over the past decades have not exceeded 27%, and it seems to me that Kılıçdaroğlu has realized that the Turks will not give it a majority as long as it adheres to secular thought," the analyst continues.

Hence, Alpay says, "Kiliçdaroğlu realized the necessity of changing the image of his party, which is rooted in the minds of the majority, as a party that calls for the re-raising of the call to prayer in the Turkish language, and supports the ban on headscarves in government institutions and universities. Therefore, this campaign was not accepted by some of those close to him."

Alpay stated that "Cumhuriyet" newspaper, which is close to the CHP, also opposes this campaign and says that the CHP did nothing to ask for forgiveness.

In this context, the analyst says that "the request for forgiveness and forgiveness is not only in words. The conservative and religious segment in Turkey is waiting for concrete steps from the party."

According to Alpay, "In order for Kılıçdaroğlu and his team to prove his sincerity of intentions, he must admit that the rooms established in the entrances of universities in the late 1990s to persuade girls to remove the headscarf were a wrong step and a blatant attack on their rights, or that the party acknowledged its mistake when it resorted to the Supreme Constitutional Court to cancel a parliamentary decision regarding Allowing headscarves to be worn in government institutions in 2007.

A Turkish play recalls the policy of "take off the hijab to stay in university" (Al Jazeera)

ban hijab

The ban on headscarves in Turkish government institutions, schools and universities began with the "public dress code" that was issued after the coup of September 12, 1980, and remained in force for about 31 years.

The military institution was the strongest in implementing the decision to ban the headscarf;

The mothers and relatives of the employees and soldiers working in her structure were prevented from entering the military barracks with the veil, and the implementation of the veil ban - especially on university students - sparked controversy that lasted for many years between supporters and opponents of it.

Leftist parties - led by the Republican People's Party and the Social Democratic Party - defended the ban on the headscarf on the pretext of preserving the secular system, while conservative, Islamic and nationalist parties, such as the "Motherland", "Welfare", "Justice and Development" and "National Movement" parties, opposed the decision. In the name of freedom of belief.

On the sixth and ninth of February 2008, the constitutional amendment granting female students the freedom to wear the headscarf in universities was accepted by 411 votes against 103 in the parliamentary vote in which 518 deputies participated.

On February 27, 2008, 112 deputies from the Republican People's Party and the Democratic Left submitted a formal request to the Supreme Constitutional Court to cancel the constitutional amendment that provides for the freedom to wear the veil in public places without obtaining the desired result.