The French ban on niqab/burqa has triggered a number of posts here and there.
Then it turned into a personal feud of opinions here and there, too.
Of course, the latter is unproductive.
Here is
my condensed view on this matter.
The West strove to emancipate the woman. Its history for that is actually relatively recent. Even prior to WW-II, women in the West was a second class citizen. Nevertheless, because the human civilization is growing at an exponential rate, changes happen at stunning rates, too.
That so-called exponential rate, however, is restricted by the CURRENT state of the society. An advanced society has a faster rate and a retarded society has a retarded rate... Consequently, the GAP between the retarded and advanced societies is steadily getting WIDER.
There is also a REACTION component to that. As retarded societies fall behind, instead of striving for modern values, they have a tendency for retreating in to the dark eras of the past, because it is a "power period extender" for the rulers who have FAILED to to keep up with the Contemporary values of advanced Civilization.
Allow me to be more concrete.
I am talking here about the current state of the "Western" civilization as an aggregate of the European culture's "intellectual values" in contrast to the "Cleric's values" of the Muslim world.
I hardly care about the "Christian Cleric's values of the Western World", because it is historically in process of being defeated already. Please note my qualifier about the "Clerics' values" in contrast to lay people's.
Currently, the "Middle East", not as a geographical entity, but rather as a cultural entity, reaching from Morocco all the way to Pakistan as "Islam", is in a political struggle as an antithesis of the West
Note that, many other "Muslim" countries are NOT included in that description, such as Indonesia.
In that scope, there is one country with a DUBIOUS identity: Turkey.
I am an ex-patriot of Turkey. Hence, I have a great incentive to worry about the well being of my relatives and acquaintances there, because I can EVALUATE the situation there more reliably.
Lately, the country is going through (1) an unprecedented economic expansion, and (2) unprecedented Islamization.
The USA is intimately close to the government(s) there. As a matter of fact, without US endorsement, the current government would have ZERO chance to remain in power.
What is the problem then?
Well, the current government is using "Islamism" to justify its "electoral" existence. I have said "electoral", rather than "democratic", because there is a GREAT difference. One emphasizes that the voters are informed, the other does not.
The CURRENT government n Turkey is PROMOTING Islamism and along with that the oppression of woman's emancipation under a DISGUISE of free choice.
Free Choice is one only if you are well informed and are free of threats and extortion.
However, that hardly applies to the poor and the ignorant women in Turkey.
The "government" is pushing hard to allow "head scarves" in government offices. It is only a prelude to total segregation of man and women. It is only an appeasement of the "left behind" archaic population of Turkey, to sponsore votes.
In the process, we are watching a country to potentially succumb BACK into the dark ages of the Middle East, AFTER 70 decades of top down Westernization.
I, as an expat with insight and friends and relatives, cannot endorse.
I accuse those, who PROMOTE these BACKWARDS steps in that ONLY "western-style Muslim democracy" as representing the "free spirit of the west" as LIARS and DISINGENUOUS people.
I invite them to present their true faces and their true philosophy.
Hoping that it may help. I have a short collection of YouTube videos which demonstrate what a the Republic of Turkey has become under that Islamist government.
Supporters of that should be ashamed of themselves.
Şeriatçı Yobazlar!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9eM1TyG15I&feature=related
YOBAZLAR Vatan Gazetesi ekibine saldırıyorlar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cANfRoZsOsQ&feature=related
tessetür allahın emri hz fatıma annemizin sünnetidir
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKoV_dJFHJY&feature=related
başörtüsü & karaböcükler...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z--Mht1gusk&feature=related
- Piscine pour femmes - For women only 
