Dutch/Turkish TV presentator Senay Özdemir

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The right of young Turkish Muslims to have sex

Muslim parents in the Netherlands tell their daughters to stay virgin until the day of their wedding. An impossible requirement, says Senay Özdemir. It only leads to hypocrisy and disturbed family relations. Young Muslim women should have more freedom to experiment with sex before marriage.Former tv-presenter Senay Özdemir is a young Dutch woman of Turkish origin. As the editor of a digital magazine for women of immigrant background, SEN Magazine, she knows very well what is going on in the minds of young Muslimas in the Netherlands. Last week she published her view in an opinion article in the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad. What many Muslim parents in the Netherlands are forgetting, writes Ms Özdemir, is that they themselves were mostly married at a young age and thus could legitimately have sex. In modern Dutch society, however, the age at which young Muslim women marry is steadily rising. The average age is now 23 years, but more educated women often do not marry before 30.

Ms Özdemir knows what she is talking about. As editor of SEN Magazine she daily receives e-mails in which young Muslim women speak freely about their love-life. "Young women of immigrant background increasingly consider oral sex as something quite normal and feel they can't refuse their boyfriends when they ask for anal sex, as that would not damage their virginity."She calls it the 'virginity paradox'. The prohibition of sex, argues Ms Özdemir, is totally ineffective. It has in fact the reverse effect that young Muslim women as well as men become obsessed by sex.

Labels: Muslims, Netherlands, Sex, Turkey

Passion on the Bosphorous

The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak (Viking Penguin) makes a bold attempt to admit and examine the persecution of Armenians, a topic which puts most Turks in an immediate denial mode. Another commendable feature that recommends the book is a strong underlying feminist theme in the entire narrative, which is presented entirely through the eyes of women. It is basically the story of Zeliha Kagazci and her illegitimate daughter Asya; the novel begins with Zeliha’s failed attempt to get an abortion. A modern, educated and headstrong woman, she refuses to tell her family about the father of the child in her womb.This book is a compelling read for all feminists – men and women – and those interested in understanding the various nuances of conflict and conflict resolution. The frustrations and bitterness that can dominate and overpower the lives of educated, intelligent, fiercely independent and slightly crazy women unfold rather strikingly in Shafak’s writing. After all, all of us have our crazy side, don’t we?

Greece wants Turkey to re-open Istanbul seminary

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis says he wants Turkey to re-open a Greek Orthodox seminary near Istanbul as a pre-condition for a Turkish EU membership. Mr Karamanlis is in Turkey for a three-day visit, the first such visit by a Greek government leader in 50 years. Turkey closed the seminary during the 1971 conflict over Cyprus. The Greek Orthodox Church says it cannot survive in Turkey without a seminary. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he is working on a solution, but emphasised that Greece should respect the rights of its Muslim minority.

Labels: Greece, Kostas Karamanlis, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey