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The ongoing mass protests by Turkish Cypriots against new regulations permitting the use of headscarves for underage female students in schools in the occupied north should not be misinterpreted as a conflict with religious undertones. Rather, it represents a profound act of political resistance, carrying significant historical, cultural and geopolitical weight—a message Greek Cypriots should clearly understand.
The Turkish Cypriot upheaval against the headscarf policy is not an isolated incident. It is the expression of a long-standing resistance to Turkey’s cultural and political infiltration of the occupied north. Teachers’ unions, alongside dozens of civil society organisations, have taken to the streets with chants highlighting the real issue: not the headscarf as a symbol of faith, but as a tool of control and imposition by an external political agenda. It’s worth noting that elderly Turkish Cypriot women, like their Greek Cypriot counterparts, wore headscarves for their own moral reasons until recently, and some still do.
Banners reading “Fanatics, take your hands off our children” or “Ankara, take your hand off us” reveal that Turkish Cypriots are not reacting to the headscarf itself, but to its political instrumentalisation. The measure doesn’t address any actual educational needs—on the contrary, it was arbitrarily imposed, bypassing even fundamental children’s rights. As activist Deniz Düzgün characteristically stated (to “Politis” newspaper), “What has brought Turkish Cypriots to the streets is something beyond the headscarf—it’s the imposition.”
This reaction—or small revolution—is not disconnected from the broader political dynamics in Turkey. Erdoğan’s efforts to strengthen his Islamist agenda, particularly in light of the electoral challenges he faces, are reflected in the occupied territories, where the “political Islam” model clashes with the secular character of a large segment of Turkish Cypriot society. The traditional Kemalism-Islamism conflict that has long plagued Turkey is now being transferred to Cyprus, with local characteristics.
We must interpret this development correctly, rather than proceeding with interpretations disconnected from reality and raising headscarf issues on our side as well. This is not an internal “religious” dispute affecting other people. It’s a political message of culture, resistance and assertion of Turkish Cypriot self-determination, against an Ankara that doesn’t view them as equal partners, but as a protectorate.
In a period when a solution to the Cyprus problem seems a distant dream, such social eruptions confirm that there exists among Turkish Cypriots a vibrant segment of society (perhaps the majority today) that does not want to be assimilated into Turkey and is fighting for independence and self-determination. These are the Turkish Cypriots that Greek Cypriots should consider when contemplating the positive vote they seek in the joint governance of our country, with a spirit of cooperation rather than excessive suspicion.
This article was first published on 23.04.2025
Source: THE HEADSCARF ISSUE IS NOT ABOUT RELIGION, IT’S ABOUT POLITICS
