When Merve Kavakci walked into the Turkish National Assembly five years ago wearing a hijab, a religious headscarf, the newly-elected politician crossed a carefully drawn line between religion and politics.
Kavakci’s upcoming visit to Northwestern Thursday has raised not only the issue of separation of church and state but also of national loyalty and representation among Muslim and Turkish students at NU. Students agree that more discussions about those issues are needed, despite conflicts about the event.
The Muslim-cultural Students Association invited Kavakci to speak on the topic of religious freedom, which some say was violated when Kavakci was kicked out of Parliament for refusing to remove her hijab while she took her oath of office. But for some Turkish students, McSA’s fliers advertising the event, titled “Unveiling Turkey’s Injustice,” struck a chord.
“Why are the fliers emphasizing so-called Turkish injustice?'” said graduate student Murat Guvendiren. “The title is provocative and misleading, and it wouldn’t help anyone to understand the essence of the real conflict. This is unfair and hurtful to the Turkish community.”
Guvendiren and graduate student Evren Baysal, both members of the Turkish community at NU, said separation of church and state is an issue that spans Europe, and discussions of the topic are held all the time in Turkey, which has a secular government. For them, the real issue at stake in Kavakci’s removal from Parliament was not religious freedom — it is deliberate flouting of political decorum.
“It has been approved by the European Human Rights Association that there should be regulations regarding dressing in governmental institutions in secular countries,” Baysal said. “As a member of Parliament, she should have been the first to behave respectfully to the law and voice her objections democratically.”
Baysal said when the event was first publicized he urged Turkish students, many of whom were upset by the title of the speech, to refrain from any action against the event.
“We plan to attend the event and ask questions calmly and responsibly,” Baysal said. He added students who felt they could not refrain from protest were asked not to attend.
In actively practicing Islam, Kavakci is like 99 percent of the Turkish population. Though the Turkish policy dictates that religion and politics should not overlap, Kavakci did not lose her position in Parliament until government officials discovered that she held dual citizenship in Turkey and the United States.
“This lady is an abusively controversial character, and even those who support free speech object to her style,” Baysal said.
Medill junior Abed Moiduddin, president of McSA, said the Turkish Student Association is “not wrong when they say Kavakci is harsh and critical” of the Turkish government. He said TSA voiced concern about the speaker, not the topic, but that McSA does not think one should have to choose between their country and their religion.
“We don’t think we’re doing anything radical in bringing her,” Moiduddin said. “Her belief is that her headscarf is part of her religious obligation, and we sincerely believe that (prohibiting) this is an injustice, regardless of country.”
Both McSA and TSA said they weren’t looking for trouble. According to University Chaplain Tim Stevens, who conducted a meeting between the two groups several days ago, there is an agreement that dialogue about separation of church and state should occur.
“I get the sense that there hasn’t been any previous tension,” Stevens said. “The focus is on the particular speaker more than the issues. I think it’s a very emotional issue for the Turkish students.”
Reach Kristyn Schiavone at
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