A WOMAN DIYANET INSIDER'S VIEWS ON ISLAM,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005584

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/25/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON KWMN TU
SUBJECT: A WOMAN DIYANET INSIDER'S VIEWS ON ISLAM,
HEADSCARF AND WOMEN IN TURKEY

REF: A. 05 ANKARA 2030


B. ANKARA 4199

Classified By: Political Counselor Janice G. Weiner for Reasons 1.4 (b,
d)


1. (C) Summary: Ayse Sucu, President of the Women's Auxiliary
Board of the Turkish government's Directorate of Religious
Affairs (Diyanet) Foundation, told us that the government was
using the Diyanet to secure Turkey's image as a secular
country. Sucu claimed the Diyanet was a male-operated
institution with very few women among its
80,000 employees and none in leadership positions, with most
female employees working as teachers or instructors of the
Quran to other females. Sucu said she opened the Women's
Auxiliary Board in 1996 as a way to provide a female
perspective within the Institution, but also as a
counter-point to religious societies in Turkey beyond the
Diyanet, such as cemaats (lodges) and tarikats
(brotherhoods),that are traditionally male-dominated (ref
B). Sucu said that, while the Diyanet Directorate does not
run the Diyanet Foundation directly, the Foundation had the
largest endowment in Turkey. She claimed the 5000-member
Women's Auxiliary Board provided vocational, cultural, and
charitable services. End Summary.

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HEADSCARF THE "MOST SENSITIVE ISSUE IN TURKEY"
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2. (C) Sucu characterized the headscarf issue as the most
sensitive question in Turkey today. She said the headscarf
would not be so important if women were interpreting the
Quran correctly. Sucu stressed these were her personal
opinions and noted women's and men's clothing styles came
from tradition and geography, not religion alone. She
enumerated three reasons why women choose the headscarf in
Turkey: 1) a sense of duty as a religious person, 2) fear of
expulsion from society and a sense of shame, and 3) family
pressure or family tradition.


3. (C) The Quran brought discipline to clothes and the "Nur"
chapter on women's attire offered some guidelines, she said,
but this was specific to Prophet's time. (Note: Verses
30-31 in Chapter 24 (Nur) of the Quran provide the primary
basis for most justifications for wearing the headscarf. End
note.) Sucu claimed the issue of whether or not these verses
instruct continuation of covering the head was open to
interpretation today, as women in the Prophet's time were
wearing headscarves prior to the Quran. Sucu said that, as
with most issues in religion, a male perspective defined the
headscarf issue. She said there were more progressive
currents in religious interpretation in the past and quoted a
late 19th century thinker who said, "If anything should be
covered, it should be men's eyes." Sucu stated that men
cover women to protect themselves, not women.

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ADVOCATING WOMEN'S VOICE IN ISLAM
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4. (C) According to Sucu, the great defect in the history of
all three monotheistic religions was that they lacked female
perspective. Sucu argued for a holistic approach to the
Quran, which she claimed women did not interpret
traditionally. She thought Islamic history did provide a
woman's perspective, such as the anecdotes from Ayse, the
Prophet Mohammed's second wife, but that her voice had been
lost because only men had written and interpreted Islam. She
also raised the issue of the lack of female perspectives in
the Quranic interpretation of matters that pertain to women
specifically, such as women's health and attire. She argued
that if women were to interpret the Quran, there would be
more emphasis on the emotional aspects and verses within the
scripture, as well as on scriptural references to love and
respect. She doubted if truth could be sought in the Quran
if men constantly neglected women. It was impossible, in her
view, to find the whole truth when one half, the women's
voice, was missing. Sucu predicted that women's role in
Islam would expand beyond what had been demands for women's
equality into theology and politics.


ANKARA 00005584 002 OF 002


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TURKEY AS PART OF GLOBAL TREND
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5. (C) Sucu characterized the increased religiosity in Turkey
as a part of a growing world trend, which she said
moved religion away from its essence and toward a focus on
practice. She said that in Ottoman times there was more
emphasis on spirituality, and that now conservative practice
is more prevalent when it comes to views on women and their
role in society throughout the world.

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MALE EMPATHY NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WOMEN'S PROGRESS
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6. (C) Women had come a long way in Turkey, Sucu
acknowledged, but this was solely the result of women's
efforts, not male sensitivity to women's issues. In previous
meetings with us, she criticized specifically the
male leadership of the Diyanet as not being interested in
promoting women's equality. She also pointed out that
Turkey had a higher percentage of women with PhD and college
degrees than most countries in the region, but lagged behind
Iran in the number of female representatives in government.
She claimed the only way to promote women's
social, economic or political position was through education
and development of the broader society.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

WILSON