Charshafs in Mersin

Following a recent post about hijabs in Ukraine, I thought I would share this news from Turkey.  Earlier this month in the Turkish city of Mersin, in honor of the 86th anniversary of the removal of the Caliphate, nearly 100 women from one of Turkey's leading political parties (CHP) gathered.  And then they ripped up some black charshafs.

Photos from Radikal

Aside from the photos, what I found most interesting about this article was the debate in the comments by the site's users.

user "rightous" says:  

Bravo to the bright women of the CHP...contemporary women...modern women...women after Ataturk...what can I say to you...I see you and I'm with you...if you weren't here, we'd be like Iran!  I'm sure if Ataturk saw this in the year 2010 he'd smile at you.  Or maybe it would depress him...actually should you laugh or cry at this situation...

user cankan says:

No to the charshaf!  Because the charsaf means the end of the the value of the Republic and Ataturk.  The Charshaf means a dark future.  Let's leave our children not to the darkness of the charshaf, but to a bright future.

But user Nihat Erkan says:

Is Kemalism like this? When you insensitively go and rip up a çarşaf in order to thought our thoughts and opinions in a sack in order to advance some far away quarrel, the most valued principles of society are on the individual citizen, like the sword of Damocles it swings and weakens our position. [Nihat said a bit more but I had difficulty translating the entirety of his comments]

user "shakanozdemir" says:

But going this far is shameful (ayıp).  What have you ripped up?  Even if you haven't liked it, one part of the whole is valuable.  What you have stamped upon is not just a peice of cloth, but at the same time the potential of the CHP.  Take this photograph, look at is carefully and then ask - why don't we come to our potential?  You've found the answer, haven't you?

Haylemdeman:

Everything for a vote...remember that during elections every citizen is a [voting] citizen.

User mustafam1:  

The charshaf isn't like the turban! Didn't CHP just last year hold a "charshaf opening" and with a ceremony make women in charshafs from the suburbs members of the party?  This means it isn't the charshaf that's bothering the CHP.  They came out against the turban for because it was used for a "political" reason. By this reasoning do they believe that the charshaf is also being used for a "political" reason?  If tomorrow women wearing charshafs (çarşafılılar) go out onto the street as a reaction to the actions of these "progressive" women and begin to cut up skirts, women's suits and pants, what will happen?  In my opinion, they didn't get caught up with turbans because they are small, but they can get caught up in the charshaf and they still haven't gotten out of it, god willing (inşallah) the people will be freed from this!

I hate to be too second wave-y, but after seeing these images I had the urge to google "bra-burning 1960s," and found this image from 1968.  Do you think women of CHP took some inspiration from that strategy?

Crazy corn for boys

This is the best thing ever, picked up at a kiosk in Sovietskii.  It is called "Crazy Corn," and it is "for boys."  It also says "Ken" on the left and "cool guys" on the right.  See that at the bottom right hand side?  That is some Ukrainian cash money.  These taste like condensed milk flavored Cheetos but are strangely addictive.  What sealed the deal?  There is a prize inside, and they are "ecologically pure."  Mmm.

С ноорузом!

It has been a year since my first Nevruz celebration, and I must say I'm feeling a little nostalgic about that weekend trip to Kochkor I wrote about last spring.  Here is a quick description of the holiday from today's Turkish Daily News.

March 21 is a celebration of the arrival of spring in many parts of the Middle East and is the official New Year in Iran. It is also celebrated in Central Asian Turkic republics and in Afghanistan. It represents the time in the rotation of the Earth when day and night are exactly equal or, as some call it, the Spring Equinox...

Fire is one of the key components of the New Year’s celebrations that are called Nevruz in Turkish and Newroz in Kurdish... Some 20 countries acknowledge the day, as do a number of communities that are no longer living in their native lands, including the Bahais and the Zoroastrians...

The original words mean “New Day” (Nev-ruz) in Iranian, and it is in that country where the custom of celebrating the Spring Equinox apparently had its start – although there are some who favor a Central Asian origin. The story told is a tale of a tyrannical king and a hero who rallied the people to defeat him, a story with a similar feeling to that of David and Goliath in the Bible. The celebration has also been attributed to the Zoroastrians, who were in Iran long before the Iranians, and to their beliefs.

All the pictures below are from Radikal.  Unfortunately the photos aren't listed by city, so there's no way to be sure where each of these was taken.

Photo from Radikal

Celebrations of Nevruz in Turkey can also take on a political meaning.  The above article continues...

In Turkey, the holiday was marked for decades with protests as Kurds who followed the Iranian custom of celebrating the Spring Equinox turned it into a protest against what they perceived as oppression. A key element in celebrating the day is the lighting of a large bonfire; since the Turkish government had outlawed the celebration, the bonfire took on greater significance. Leaping over the bonfire was a way in which young Kurds could show off their athletic prowess and courage. Police, on the other hand, would break up what they saw as an illegal activity – actions that sometimes resulted in violence and even death.

A young man jumps through the Nevruz fire.

Photo from Radikal

Three young girls at a Nevruz celebration, two in the Kurdish colors of green, yellow and red

Photo from Radikal

Some celebrating the holiday in Turkey held up photographs of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan

Photo from Radikal

Do you know what Yalta is at night?

I'm reading through the short stories in The Wall in my Head: words and images from the fall of the Iron Curtain, a wonderful anthology published last year.  Whenever I now find references to Crimea, I can't help but dally over them and think about them.  I found this in Dmitri Savitski's Waltz for K. You can find the full text here.

In Tsvetnoy market the Georgians were selling tomatoes for exorbitant prices, someone had brought some plump gladioli into town, and the Prime Minister of Australia was due to arrive on an official visit, and an aphorism by the mayor of the city made the rounds of Moscow, to the effect that if anyone flew during the visit, heads would fly too—in a word, a pal! of ennui and desolation had descended, and Katenka and I finally got two plane tickets to Simferopol; from there we would make our way by road to Yalta, rest a while, take a look round. and, going out to sea one night on a plea sure boat, leave the country for ever.

Kolenka's warning—not to fly over large expanses of water—naturally made us a bit apprehensive, but we had no choice. The Western frontiers were now being patrolled in earnest.

Do you know what Yalta is at night? No, not Soviet Yalta, full of drunks and street brawls, reeking of cheap perfume and suntan oil! A different Yalta. Mute, dwindling, sprawled on its side like a dis tant dying campfire. A city from which so many have fled. ... A last memory, spiced with cheap jokes.. ..

It was a close, moonless night. I had a child's compass, bought at the last minute. I was so afraid the pointer would come off the needle-----

Word of the day: biblioclasm

Kyiv Scoop describes a collective burning of Ukrainian history books that took place on Sunday here in the center of Simferopol.  Click through for photos.

On March 14, activists from the PSPU and the Proryv youth movement (name means 'Breakthrough!') gathered in Simferopolto barbecue Ukrainian history books written since the country declared independence from the Soviet Union nineteen years ago. Marching through the Crimean capital, they carried banners that read “Give our native Russian language state status” and “Yanukovych – Don’t sell out our goal: Union with Russia.” The photos show some of the demonstrators extending their right hands upwards and to the right – just like the Nazis used to. The history texts were brought in by wheelbarrow and burned with the statue of Lenin looking on in approval.

For those who are curious:  no, I wasn't around. 

Super Alisa

This weekend my friend Inge, who studies Russian in Kyiv, came to visit Crimea with a few friends.  While she was here, she gave me some music by Super Alisa, a singer from Tatarstan who has apparently already won over the hearts of hipsters worldwide regardless of their Russian or Tatar speaking abilities.


Note for my readers:  Super Alisa is from Tatarstan in Russia - she is not a Crimean Tatar.  Many understandably confuse Crimean Tatars with other Tatar groups, especially Volga Tatars.  While Tatars have a shared history and all speak a Turkic language, their languages and recent histories are quite different.

This song - Tatarstan super good - is incredibly catchy and fun...

I thought I'd translate the lyrics of this second one because it was pretty simple, but of course it was difficult to  make it come out right - give it a listen if you read the lyrics.

I'm Super Alica, a Tatar singer

Dance if you're not sitting down

I'm going to sing you some useful advice

Don't drink alcohol or eat pork

Remember while you are dancing to always think of the great god

Look, don't avoid the correct road

Think all the time about the one and only god

The only thing not cool about this video is that she seems to be playing air guitar on an actual guitar

And the best for last...how could I not include "Aquatic Robot," sung in Russian and Tatar:




Here is Google's translation of a review on Obshestvennoe Mnenie

The most joyous release of the last time. And with a completely unexpected side. Kazan girl Alice about 18 recorded an album at home and distribute it via the Internet. "Electroclash", adapted to the conditions of the Tatars. Funny and cheerful Muzychka in these still-trendy nostalgic style with Russian-Tatar texts. In music, as it should be, reflection on the theme of dance hits of the 80's - early 90's, wrapped in modern electronic wrapper. Texts, again, as expected, about space, robots and genetics. But that adds a sizeable color, about God and about the fact that you can not eat pork. And all this with a thin girlish voice. Plus some places male rap in the Tatar language. There are, of course, and several remixes. Head hit album - No Limit from the repertoire of 2 Unlimited, referred to here as "Cosmos". Sound quality, though quite average, but the atmosphere is compensated.

What exactly is her deal?  That is a question You Tube users seem to be battling out in the comments.  Under one video, a user asked if she was "for real" or a sort of joke.  Another user responded by asking of Verka Serduchka - the popular cross-dressing, surzhyk (a mix of Russian and Ukrainian) speaking famous and singer - was "for real."  See her in this video - "Jump, Jump!" - dancing around in traditional Ukrainian clothes at a traditional Ukrainian dinner.

Both of there performers are quite interesting - they both incorporate and challenge the traditions and images of their cultures in their music.  Any readers reminded of other boundary-crossing performers form the former Soviet Union?  I'd love to hear about them!

Simferopol Blues

My muse has been a bit preoccupied lately, so I haven't been writing as much as I want to.  So here is a quick post before I run off for the day.

A friend and I have decided to give each other weekly assignments to work on our photography skills.  This week the assignment is "blue."

Walking around Simferopol looking for blue, I've been reminded of some of my first impressions of the city.  Color seems to be at the same time in scarce supply and popping out brightly from every corner.  Graffiti, windows, doors and clothing jump out from the background of the city.

Yes, that's snow.

Passport photos and official hijabs

During my time in Turkey, headscarves were always in the news, and it seemed that all of my friends outside of Turkey wanted to talk about them.  Can you wear them in public buildings?  Can you wear them in universities?  Turkish newspapers were always finding new ways to talk about headscarves.  Which universities are allowing students to wear headscarves?  Who is wearing headscarves?  Headscarf dedikodu:  Who's wives are wearing headscarves?  Who wears a headscarf now who (gasp) didn't used to?  How much are women paid to wear headscarves?  Which businesses pay women to wear headscarves?  Much like the minaret in Switzerland, the headscarf in Turkey became shorthand for the country's culture wars, and fodder for hastily written essays and opinion pieces of many an Erasmus student and foreign journalist.

The issue has now opened for discussion in Ukraine.  The Ukrainian constitution guarantees its citizens freedom of religion, but Muslim women are not allowed to be photographed for official identification with hijabs, or headscarves.  This January, a young woman, 25 year old Susanna Ismailova of Bakhchisaray, Crimea, applied for a new passport photo.  When she was unable to be photographed with her hijab, she opened a suit in Kyiv.  It is said that nearly 1,000 Muslim women from throughout Ukraine (not only Crimean Tatar women) have signed a petition for the right to wear a hijab in official photos.

I was unable to find much on this issue in English - the story seems to have been picked up mostly by news organizations focusing on Muslim issues (see here).  Seems to be a bit of a hotter news item in the Turkish press (here, here, here).  Some related videos (RUS):

A news report on the issue, including a brief interview with Susanna Ismailova:

 A discussion among a group of Crimean Muslim women on the issue, including Susanna Ismailova (very long).




Is this lawsuit now a main focus among Crimean Tatars?  Crimean Tatar Muslims, like many post-Soviet Muslims, are often considered not very strict.  While I couldn't make a guess about percentages, I rarely see Crimean Tatar women wearing a hijab.  This is not to say that none do, it is just a comment for my readers outside Ukraine who aren't familiar with the issue.  While researching this news item, I came across this paper (which happens to be written by an acquaintance of mine here in Crimea who is going to the US next year on a Fulbright grant).  She explains Crimean Muslims as follows:

Crimean Muslims are unique – there are very strict believers who do not eat pork and moderate Muslims, who eat pork and joke that they asked God for forgiveness before eating it. There are Muslims who wear headscarves and those who openly state that they hate people in headscarves, and argue that it is an Arabic custom that is inappropriate for Crimean Tatars who are secular. There are those who pray daily and those who do not understand what praying is for. You can find those who fast only for several days and then give up, and those who fast during Ramadan plus additionally several times a month. For some Muslims Islamic traditions are alive only at weddings and funerals, for others Islam is a daily routine. Nevertheless, all described above types of people consider themselves Muslims, they call themselves proudly Muslims, and those who are still single, want to get married only to Muslims.

Sometimes one single family can consist of strict believers and moderate Muslims.

So although there are Crimean Tatars at the front of this fight, and the issue is being characterized in the news as a Crimean Tatar issue, it seems safe to say it is not a cause all Ukrainian Muslims would prioritize.  Here is an excerpt (my translation) of an interview with Safinar Cemileva, founder of the League of Crimean Tatar Women and wife of Mustafa Cemiloglu, the leader of the Mejlis, or Crimean Tatar Parliament.  The entire interview can be found in Russian from the Ukrainian newsource Day (RUS).

By the way, now there is a movement unfolding arguing not only that Muslim women always wore the hijab, but that they should be allowed to be photographed for their passports in a hijab.  Is there such a problem?

This is not typical, this is a sect.  Look at the jewelery Crimean Tatar women wear - gold, silver, filigree!  Who would close all that splender in a hijab so no none could see it?  On the contrary, Crimean Tatar women proudly display their collection of earrings, rings, bracelets.  We are proud of our seamstresses, jewelers and goldsmiths.  Our girls and women have always worn small fezes, hats, small scarves and shawls.  Simply our women don't dress provocatively, like sometimes happens in some cultures, and this shows our adherence to the Koran.  Our government and our people have always been secular, and not religiously fanatic.  When we arrived in Uzbekistan, we were struck by the custom of wearing the veil, and the passivity of Uzbek women and how they are closed from society. For us it was wild.  Crimean Islam has never been like that.  I remember my grandmother. She had a small kerchief, she prayed, she read the Koran, and she would take it off and fold it neatly.  She never dressed with her body exposed, but she also was not too closed.  Everything was very neat, without excess.

While I don't think either of the two authors above would advocate such a statement, I suppose some will point to this case as an example of "Islamic fundamentalism" in Crimea.  There are so many perspectives on this story - like many issues in Ukraine.  This is why I've so enjoyed learning more about this country.  No news item is as straightforward as you might first imagine.  Writing this post also makes me even more excited to read Veiled Empire: Gender and Power in Stalinist Central Asia, which Nicholas just brought back for me from his trip to New York.  Also would like to read Why the French don't like headscarves:  Islam, the State, and public space.