Islamophobia in Turkey: A kind of self-hatred?

aug 07

We have quite a Western lifestyle. We drink alcohol, our relations with the opposite sex are relaxed, and the way we dress and behave are quite Western. No one interferes with our lifestyles. However, when we see a woman swimming in the sea with a head to toe swimsuit on, or crowded group of women with headscarves, we become very angry! Why we are so irritated with this? Do they remind us we are not Western enough, that we have strong roots in the East? Or maybe something closer, more private? Do they tap into our emotional baggage we still carry from the struggle with our parents who were devout whereas we became atheists or non-practicing Muslims? Are we �latent Muslims� who could not resolve our intellectual and emotional struggle with Islam? Do these people represent our repressed side?

I think we must ask ourselves these and other similar questions. When I read some comments by distinguished secular intellectuals in Turkey, I cannot stop thinking that for them the only solution is that all devout Muslims become secular; that Muslim women relinquish their headscarves, or there will be no peace in Turkey! Is our peace based on the idea that some people in our society must change their beliefs and religious practices so they better resemble us? Can we accept something like this? ...

I can hear the objections � �we are not against the devout Muslims or any religion but we are against political Islam!� But the problem is that in Turkey, people's attempts to lead their lives in a manner suitable to their beliefs are being seen and labeled as the manifestation of political Islam!

Spoken like a dickhead Western liberalist. Everything must be tolerated: and blame yourself if you can't.