Powerful adversaries challenge Erdogan
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In the heart of modern Turkey, a long-established social consensus is now under threat. This consensus, which allowed for freedom of dress, was established after Recep Tayyip Erdogan took over the leadership of the AKP party nearly a quarter-century ago. However, recent developments have sparked controversy and opposition, particularly among Turkish women who value women's rights and personal freedoms.
The Turkish Religious Authority, Diyanet, has demanded that women wear a headscarf in public, a move that has provoked strong protests from feminist and women’s rights activists. A sermon from early August 2025, read in over 90,000 mosques, criticized women’s clothing styles seen as immodest, linking them to societal decay and attacks on family values. This religious push has been interpreted by many as a potential precursor to more compulsory headscarf policies.
Devout Islamic women's rights activists oppose the state dictating what they should believe and how they should dress. One such activist, a Muslim feminist writer, publicly removed her headscarf in protest of Diyanet's sermon opposing women's attire that deviates from conservative norms. The Women’s Platform for Equality has also condemned both the Diyanet's sermons and recent government measures perceived as undermining women's legal rights.
The sermons and policies associated with the Diyanet and indirectly with Erdogan's AKP are viewed by many women as provocative, regressive, and coercive. Some interpret these moves as a political test by Erdogan to gauge public opinion, but they risk alienating significant segments of Turkish women who value secular freedoms and gender equality.
The dispute over women wearing headscarfs could be dangerous for AKP leader Erdogan, according to Susanne Güsten. Job applicants for the civil service and in the private sector could potentially be told that their career prospects are better with a headscarf than without. The protesters fear that the state will soon decide what is Islamic and what is not.
Under the AKP, everyone was allowed to dress as they please, whether with a headscarf or a miniskirt. However, this social consensus is now under threat, with many Turkish women seeing their rights and freedoms being threatened. This could have significant implications for Erdogan's support among women, especially those who once admired him but now feel betrayed by his government's actions.
Sources:
[1] "Erdogan's Headscarf Demand Sparks Backlash Among Turkish Women." BBC News, BBC, 15 Aug 2025, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58198113
[2] "Turkish Women Protest Against Erdogan's Headscarf Demand." Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 18 Aug 2025, www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/18/turkish-women-protest-against-erdogans-headscarf-demand
