Women enjoy freedom and progress under a conservative Muslim Party Rule in Turkey

Seen around the world, photographs of Sunday's parliamentary election in Turkey showed women -- their happy faces framed by head scarves -- cheering the overwhelming victory of the Justice and Development Party, known in Turkey as the AKP.
How should Americans read these images? To those who worry about the rise of political Islam, it may look like another step toward strict Muslim control over the long-secular nation of 70 million. The conservative AKP, those photos recall, is the party that tried to lift a ban on head scarves and outlaw adultery a few years ago. Are veils and Sharia law secretly on the AKP agenda?
I don't think so. I believe that the AKP, despite its religious roots, has been good not just for democracy but for women's rights.
But since 2001, Turkey has undergone enormous political and social improvement. There is plenty to criticize about Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but more feminist organizations have been founded under the AKP than during any part of Turkey's 80-year democracy. These women's organizations were smart: They got their issues on the national agenda just as Turkey needed to show the EU that it was making progress on human rights.
As a result, finally, men and women in Turkey have equal rights concerning marriage, divorce and property ownership. For the first time, the law says explicitly that women have autonomy over their own bodies.
While Westerners wring their hands about secularism, they miss the larger point: Turkey is getting more and more democratic. The lively public debate leading up to the election illustrates the progress that was already visible in legislation, media, employment and politics. Fifteen years ago, few people argued politics or took a public stance for one party or another. Now everybody is free to do so.
Yes, a party led by religious conservatives remains in power. But my expectations of progress for Turkish women remain high. The mentality is changing there -- across the secular-religious spectrum. Religious women may not be associated with feminism, but they now use the same laws to gain access to schools, universities and the media. Even if they wear head scarves, shouldn't we encourage them in these pursuits? Aren't religious women allowed to be ambitious? Isn't that pure democracy?
I see similar changes in mentality among men, who want to benefit from the nation's economic boom. Economic necessity and the desire for more freedom (mobility, property) are bringing men around to the idea that women can work and earn their own income. Highly educated Turks in particular are proud of their successful wives and supportive of their careers. They're learning about successful women from the source: 50% of Turkish professors are female. So are 57% of senior managers, those who run banks, private industry and museums.
After Sunday's election, there also will be 50 women in parliament -- twice as many as in 2002 -- 30 representing the AKP. Europe and the United States would be wise to look at those photos of cheering female voters and see progress and the future of Turkey's democracy.
(Extracted from Feminism, Turkish-style, Opportunities for women in Turkey have expanded under the conservative AKP party. By Senay Ozdemir, Los Angeles Times, July 25, 2007

Senay Ozdemir was the first Turkish TV host in Europe. She lives in the Netherlands, where she is the publisher of SEN magazine.)