Turkey's top cleric exits amid headscarf row

A surprise replacement for the head of the Prime Ministry’s Religious Affairs Directorate has sparked debate over the cause behind the move. Government officials say the change comes ahead of reforms in the directorate, but others suggest the timing of the removal amid heated headscarf discussions reveals that the purpose is to plant a stronger supporter in the post.

The head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, Ali Bardakoğlu, was replaced Wednesday, sparking debate over whether or not he resigned or was force out by the ruling government.

Bardakoğlu was selected chairman in 2003 and was in his second term when his position was terminated due to “radical changes [that] are about to happen in the directorate's structure,” according to Faruk Çelik, the state minister for religion.

“Bardakoğlu was replaced in the scope of these changes,” Çelik said.

“It is not true that we did not get along. He has not taken a single wrong step during his time in office,” Çelik told daily Milliyet.

Deputy Chairman Mehmet Görmez will be the interim head of the directorate after serving many years as its vice president.

In his farewell speech, Bardakoğlu said he had been willing to leave his post for more than a year, but postponed the decision to oversee the structural reforms at Çelik’s request. Bardakoğlu also said he had remained impartial to different political beliefs and civilian groups during his term in office, and that he always took into consideration the contemporary world’s needs and conditions when he spoke about Islam.

Headscarf issue might be the factor

According to observers in Ankara, some of Bardakoğlu’s recent comments have conflicted with the government’s views, especially on the headscarf issue.

“Don’t leave the headscarf issue to us, let the politicians solve it through dialogue,” Bardakoğlu had said.

Erdoğan had previously called for a solution to the issue through the involvement of the Religious Affairs Directorate, a department within the Prime Ministry.

Bardakoğlu, seen as an “intellectual religious figure” by critics, responded by saying the directorate did “not make statements on order.”

Wearing a headscarf is a matter of personal choice, the religious chief had said.

“Wearing a headscarf does not make you Muslim, just as not wearing a headscarf does not mean that you are not Muslim,” he said. “If you ask us, we will tell you that wearing a headscarf is a religious duty within the 14-century tradition of Islam. But it is up to political will to turn it into a matter of religious freedom.”

The non-committal comments did not mirror the strongly pro-headscarf stance that had been adopted by many government circles. In addition, Bardakoğlu did not show support for two recent initiatives of the government: mosque sermons in the Kurdish language and the Alevi initiative. Bardakoğlu’s most recent comments ahead of Republic Day also caused controversy.

“We have not seen the attention given to us by [modern Turkish founder Mustafa Kemal] Atatürk from anyone else,” Bardakoğlu told daily Cumhuriyet at the time, adding that he thus did not deem it appropriate to attend the Oct. 29 Republic Day reception held by the president.

Other political observers have disregarded this speculation, saying Bardakoğlu might have stepped down of his own will because he had deemed seven years of service sufficient and because he wanted to return to academia.

Commentators have pointed out that the new head of the Directorate of Religious Affairs is like-minded with Bardakoğlu, having served as his deputy since 2003.

The new head of the Diyanet, Mehmet Görmez, was the directorate’s vice president and was directing the "hadith project," an extensive academic study by a group of theologians to write a new collection of hadiths (sayings attributed to the Prophet Mohammed) that excludes some misogynistic statements that the scholars considered unauthentic.

Bardakoğlu was appointed in 2003 by former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who turned down the first candidate for the position, and was then offered Bardakoğlu’s name by the government. Sezer was known for keeping a distance from the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP.

Opposition response

Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu expressed his “surprise” at the move, saying Bardakoğlu was a “loved, respected and trusted civil servant. Some of his comments obviously caused serious disturbances with the government. It is not right that he was removed from his seat.”

Democratic Left Party, or DSP, Secretary-General Hasan Erçelebi also held a press conference Thursday to comment on Bardakoğlu’s removal.

“Secularism is in danger. And those who are trying to protect secularism are being removed from their posts with overnight operations,” he said.

“He was obviously upset during his farewell speech. But as an experienced civil servant, he never complained about anyone, because there are almost no institutions left in our country to complain to about secularism,” said Erçelebi.

“Secularism is in the most danger since the founding of the Republic” he said.


/Hurriyet Daily News/