CHP and the veil

Is this CHP and the CHP which was adamantly against a first lady wearing a Islamist headscarf the same? Is this CHP and the CHP which criticized the government for appointing top bureaucrats with veiled wives the same?

Is this "attitude change" in the CHP some sort of a "deception" aimed at pleasing the tribunal ahead of the approaching March local elections? Or, in the hope of coming to power has Baykal become a fundamentalist?

Does this mean the CHP may take steps tomorrow to lift the turban ban at universities? Does this mean the obsessive secularist understanding of the CHP will be replaced with a less obsessive understanding accepting of the "Muslim reality" of Turkey?

Irrespective of whether the CHP leader’s latest actions are nothing other than a deceptive election investment, it is just great to see the CHP realizing they need to try to win over practicing Muslims. The problem of the practicing Muslims of this country, restrictions on individual exercise of religion, is that some of the obsessive secularist taboos regarding religion can only be removed by a secularist CHP without, or with fewer, tensions in society.

Because of the secularist obsession of Turks who subscribe to the modernity project of the Turkish republic, for a long period religion was left as a tool for political Islam in the country. Various parties of political Islam did not hesitate exploiting religion and religious symbols to achieve political aims. Now the CHP has stepped into that area and is taking some courageous steps.

We hope Baykal and the CHP are sincere because only the CHP can end this polarization in the country and bring an end to the exploitation of feelings of practicing Muslims by political Islam. Let us hope this new opening of the CHP goes beyond placing CHP pins on the chadors of some women; goes beyond the local polls and ushers Turkey into a new and more cohesive period.

Could there be a timely death? Whenever death comes, the one who departs, indeed departs untimely at least for their loved ones. When my father passed away, he was only 62 years "young." My grandfather passed away at the age of 83. My granny was 88 when she started her last journey. I had friends who fell at very young age in the 1974 Cyprus operation. They were in their teens. Irrespective of what age it comes, death is always untimelyÉ

When the departing person is someone who still had words to write, works to finish, it becomes all the more difficult for those left behind to accustom themselves to the physical absence of their loved one. Perhaps that is why on a wall of a Paris cemetery it is written, "Here lies very important people who left behind very important unfinished jobsÉ" But, what is life? Is it not a trip to oblivion between birth and death? Thus, what is important is not how long that trip to oblivion was, but rather whether or not it was decorated with dignity and integrityÉ

When the news of the passing away of Gündüz Aktan was reported by news channels yesterday morning, I tried to remember when I first met him? 20 years ago? 30 years? I just could not. What was the relevance of when I first met him anyhow? He was a true friend but more than that, a true patriot, whom I always admired. We did not always share the same position on discussion topics, but he was someone I enjoyed discussing things with and from whom I learned a lot. We have lost Aktan at a very early age. He was only 67 years young.

The nation has lost a distinguished son; Turkish diplomacy has lost a precious diplomat; Turkish politics has lost a very young politician; and we friends of Aktan, have lost a very distinguished elder brotherÉ

May Allah rest him in peace!

There will be a ceremony for Aktan at 10:00 a.m. at the Foreign Ministry today. After his colleagues and friends bade him farewell, a second ceremony will be held at Parliament at 11:00 a.m. After the completion of religious rites at Ankara’s Kocatepe Mosque, Aktan will be laid to rest in the afternoon in Istanbul.

Goodbye Aktan until we meet again!