Gay designer under fire for defending muslims

It's the latest mambo jambo. Gay fashion designer Cemil Ipekci is under fire by the mainstream Turkish media for defending muslim women's right to wear headscarves. He recently raised the tone of his critism against the famous headscarf ban. He believes this ban is an obstacle on the way to women's self-expression and announced not to organize any fashion shows unless this ban is ruled out. And now tabloits like Hurriyet are messing with him.

The furry is unleashed by the "secular" elite who believe headscarf ban is the right thing and a necessity for entegration with modern West. The bullshit story is that Ipekci "seemingly" defends muslim rights for keeping up good relations with the pro-islamist AKP Government. AKP government gave him the designing job for several public services, like designing postal workers' suits and Turkish airways planes. Ipekci, in defence, claims that his alliance with the oppressed muslim majority has nothing to do with earning more public tenders from the government because he is wealthy enough not to need such governmental money. That may not be the best defence to such accusation, but is mostly true for a fact.

Cemil Ipekci, being a dominant figure in Turkish fashion industry, is an outspoken figure in political events as well as his sexual orientation. Funny dilemma with the "secular" elite is that although they claim the title for modernity and liberal thought, they attack Ipekci with negative implications on his homosexuality. Zeynep Tunuslu, another well-known designer, said "It does not take a woman to wear the headscarf, Cemil can wear it even right now!". And these people are defending sexual liberation???

AKP, although having won the popular vote twice in 5 years, still is not the actual authority in Turkey. The army-backed white-Turk elite fights AKP off in every inch of their influence; and the headscarf issue, although symbolic, is a distinct front in this battle. Army generals threaten AKP with a possible coup if AKP tries to rule out the headscarf ban.