Turkish Journalist Sedef Kabas And Pop Singer Sezen Aksu Targeted By Islamists And Turkish Government
New Age Islam News Bureau
27 January 2022
• Comedienne Fatiha El-Ghorri To Host Single Muslim
Events To Celebrate World Hijab Day
• Islamic State Suspect Lisa Smith ‘Interested In More
Harsh Side Of Islam’ – Childhood Friend Tells Trial
• Empowerment Of Women In Saudi Museums Sector In
Spotlight At Open Discussion Forum
• WHO: Many Women And Girls Still Die Of Complications
Due To Unsafe Abortion
• PTI Govt Taking Measures To Empower Women Socially,
Economically: SACM
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/turkish-journalist-sedef-kabas-sezen-aksu/d/126251
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Turkish Journalist Sedef Kabas And Pop Singer Sezen
Aksu Targeted By Islamists And Turkish Government
Turkish journalist Sedef
Kabaş arrested for ‘insulting’ President Erdoğan/ Photo: Centre to Protect
Jouranists
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26.01.2022
Two well-known women made headlines last week in
Turkey, with prominent Turkish journalist Sedef Kabas being one of them.
"There is a very famous proverb that says: A
crowned head becomes wiser. But we see that is not true. When the ox enters the
palace, he does not become a king; rather, the palace becomes a barn,"
Kabas said on Tele 1, an opposition television channel. She later tweeted the
saying, as well.
The 52-year-old journalist was then targeted by
government officials and pro-government groups. Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul
said Kabas will "get what she deserves for her unlawful words."
"The honour of the presidency's office is the
honour of our country. I strongly condemn the vulgar insults made against our
president and his office," Turkey's Presidential Communications Director
Fahrettin Altun tweeted.
On Saturday, security forces detained Kabas in a
midnight raid for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Article 299 of the
Turkish Penal Code for "insulting the president" carries a prison sentence
of one to four years.
Prosecution for 'insulting the president'
In Turkey, thousands of people have been convicted for
"insulting the president" since Erdogan was elected to the office in
2014.
According to Turkish justice ministry statistics, 160,169
investigations have been launched over "insulting the president,"
with 35,507 cases filed over the last eight years.
The law prosecutes not only journalists, artists and
academics, but also ordinary citizens. According to human rights defenders, the
article is a serious attack on the freedom of expression.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has called
upon Turkey to change the president insult legislation.
"Such a sanction, by its very nature, inevitably
had a chilling effect on the willingness of the person concerned to express his
or her views on matters of public interest," the court stated in an
October 2021 ruling.
Pop star also targeted
Also last week, Turkish pop singer Sezen Aksu faced
criticism from pro-government Islamist groups after sharing a five-year-old
song called "How Wonderful to be Alive" on her YouTube channel for
New Year's Eve.
Aksu was accused of blasphemy for singing, "We
are heading straight to a disaster/Say hi to Adam and Eve, those ignorant
ones" in her song. President Erdogan subsequently threatened the legendary
singer and songwriter.
"No one can defame our Prophet Adam. It is our
duty to rip those tongues out. No one can say those words to our mother
Eve," Erdogan said at last week's Friday prayer without mentioning Aksu's
name.
Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs, or Diyanet,
which has been instrumentalised in political affairs during Erdogan era, also
made a statement about Aksu's song: "One should be extremely careful and
sensitive in every sentence when talking about distinguished holy figures of
Islam," Diyanet stated.
Meanwhile, a group of lawyers in Turkish capital
Ankara filed a criminal complaint against Sezen Aksu for "insulting
religious values."
'A preview of future polarizing rhetoric'
The 68-year-old singer defied threats by sharing a new
poem/song "Hunter," which was translated into 35 languages by social
media users in one night. In it, she said: "You cannot crush my
tongue."
"I have been writing for 47 years, and I'll
continue to write," she added in a Facebook post. Like journalist Sedef
Kabas, the Turkish pop queen also received massive support from the opposition,
including from politicians.
"Artists will speak out, they cannot be
silenced," tweeted Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu from Turkey's main
opposition party CHP.
For Emre Erdogan, a professor of political science at
Istanbul Bilgi University, as a popular singer for many generations, Sezen Aksu
doesn't seem to be a good target for an attack to consolidate AK Party’s
conservative voter base.
"Still, it squeezes newly emerging, minor
political actors who target the AK Party voter base," he told DW.
"Framing the debate as an attack on Islamic
values pushes such actors to advocate for freedom of expression," he
pointed out. The president's move prevents such actors from taking a bridge
role, he explained.
"This scenario may be perceived as a preview of
future polarizing rhetoric until the next elections, in which every single vote
will be invaluable," he said.
Social media: Battleground for public controversies
Erdogan's divisive language gained momentum after the
Gezi Park protests in 2013, when thousands protested the government's
authoritarian policies.
Erdogan began promoting nationalist and Islamist
discourse to strengthen his policy of polarization after his party's alliance
with Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Detention of journalist Sedef Kabas and
threats against musician Sezen Aksu reflect such dimensions of political
polarization.
In Turkey, where society is highly polarized, social
media functions as a political battleground. For example, after pro-government
groups started tweeting #SezenAksuKnowYourPlace and #SedefKabasKnowYourPlace,
supporters shot back with #SezenAksuIsNotAlone and #SedefKabasIsNotAlone
hashtags.
As Turkish citizens face severe economic problems due
to high inflation, some opposition spheres see the recent developments as a
strategic move on the part of the government to divert public attention.
On the other side is the argument that to sustain
stability amidst chaos, Erdogan is playing his "religion card" for a
more authoritarian Islamist regime in a time of economic crisis.
Anthropologist and journalist Ayse Cavdar, however,
diverges from this thesis.
"This is not a move to divert the political
agenda or change public discussion," she told DW.
"This is President Erdogan saying to his
supporters, 'I take prosperity from you, but in return I give you something
greater: Your religious sensitivities are defended by the highest political
authority.'"
"This is a bargain where the opposition
unfortunately remains silent," she concluded.
Source: DW News
https://www.dw.com/en/leading-turkish-women-targeted-by-islamists-and-government/a-60546751
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Comedienne Fatiha El-Ghorri To Host Single Muslim
Events To Celebrate World Hijab Day
Comedienne Fatiha El-Ghorri
to host Single Muslim events
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26 Jan 2022
To celebrate World Hijab Day comedienne- Fatiha
El-Ghorri, will be hosting ‘Halal Speed Dating’ events.
The events will take place in London, Manchester,
Birmingham and Leeds and are supported by SingleMuslim.com.
World Hijab Day takes place on February 1.
Fatiha said: “I’m over the moon that SingleMuslim.com
asked me to host their series of events – it shows you that as Hijabi women, we
are empowered and have a voice in who we choose as a partner for marriage, as
many who don’t understand the wearing of the hijab, think we are
oppressed…which is very untrue!
"The reason World Hijab Day has been created, is
to celebrate the wearing of the Hijab and also inviting non-hijabi / non
Muslims to experience the hijab for one day”. The first event will be in London
on the weekend just before Valentines Day.
For more information please visit www.events.singlemuslim.com
Source: Asian Image
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Islamic State suspect Lisa Smith ‘interested in more
harsh side of Islam’ – childhood friend tells trial
Robin Schiller
January 26 2022
A childhood friend of Lisa Smith's family has said the
alleged Islamic State member "blindly followed" what she read on the
internet and believed in conspiracy theories.
Carol Karimah Duffy today told the Special Criminal
Court in Dublin that the accused was also interested in the "more
harsh" and political side of the religion and that she spoke about
"justifying" suicide bombings.
The witness denied having any involvement in
radicalising her and said Ms Smith was "vulnerable" and
"heartbroken" when she began conversing with an American man about
Islam online.
Lisa Smith (39), with an address in Dundalk, Co Louth,
has pleaded not guilty to membership of an unlawful terrorist group, the
Islamic State (IS), between October 28, 2015, and December 1, 2019.
The former Defence Force member also denied trying to
finance terrorism by attempting to provide €800 in assistance, via a Western
Union money transfer, to a named man on May 6, 2015, for the benefit of the
same terror organisation.
It is the State's case that, while Lisa Smith did not
take part in combat, she emigrated to IS in an act of allegiance to provide
sustenance and vitality to the terror group.
The prosecution says that this act of hegira is the
life blood of IS and something it cannot live without.
Under cross-examination this afternoon Ms Duffy, who
grew up in Dundalk and converted to Islam in or around 2000, denied she played
any role in radicalising Lisa Smith.
The witness said she taught Ms Smith in the same way
she taught the other women at her local mosque, but that the accused
"interpreted it in the way she wanted to".
She also denied telling the former soldier to give up
her job in the army on the basis that she was paying taxes that might be used
to fight wars against Muslims.
Ms Duffy told Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, that
they never spoke about her work, that Lisa Smith was only a Muslim for a short
time before leaving the military, and that the accused had "bigger things
to worry about".
She said they discussed the 9/11 atrocity but denied
advocating any conspiracy theories and said the terror attacks were wrong.
"Lisa's thing was conspiracy theories. We didn't
talk about that, even the notion of that is ridiculous," she said.
In re-examination she told Sean Gillane SC,
prosecuting, that they did not have in-depth discussions about anything because
Ms Smith "didn't have enough knowledge" for deep conversations.
Excerpts from an interview the witness gave to RTÉ
Radio One's Liveline in 2019 about Lisa Smith were also played to the court.
In the interview she described Ms Smith as "a
really nice girl, very fun, and approachable", but said that she was also
vulnerable and naive.
The defendant was naive, Ms Duffy said, because she
"blindly followed" what was on the internet and never saw her read a
book.
The witness said Ms Smith was vulnerable at the time
she converted religion because she was "heartbroken" from a break-up
and may have joined Islam "to get back at the man she loved".
In her evidence-in-chief this morning Ms Duffy said
she became aware that Lisa Smith expressed interest in converting to Islam in
2010 and was "surprised" by this.
The witness recalled explaining the sacrifices
involved to the accused, including giving up family events and the "awful
abuse" she received on the street at the time.
The three judges were told Lisa Smith was
"completely fine" with this and that things developed "very
quickly".
At the time the witness was teaching classes at the
mosque in Dundalk and when Ms Smith joined the other women "didn't take
well to her".
Ms Duffy said the accused was interested in the
political and "more harsh" end of Islam, as well as polygamy, and
spoke a lot about a Jihad or holy war.
The court heard there were also general discussions
about suicide bombings and "justifying" these attacks.
Ms Duffy said the accused spoke about wanting a
husband who was a shaheed - a martyr of Islam - and expressed a desire to get
married within a month of converting.
She told Mr Gillane that Lisa Smith married in late
2010 but that this relationship did not last long, saying the accused believed
her husband "wasn't religious enough".
The two women had lived together at the time, and Ms
Duffy said the defendant began talking to people online and became withdrawn.
This included an American man who the court has heard
was known among other names as Abu Hassan.
She said eventually she "couldn't listen to
her" and that after Lisa Smith moved out, she broke off contact with her.
Earlier this morning, Sheikh Hussein Halawa gave
evidence that IS "had nothing to do with Islam" because of their
interpretation of the religion, it being superficial, and the violence it used
to impose its ideology on others".
The court previously heard Ms Smith had attended the
Islamic Cultural Centre of Islam where Mr Halawa is an Imam.
He said people from all over the world had travelled
to the IS after being promised security and safety.
Mr Halawa also agreed that his son - Ibrahim - had
travelled to Egypt and been locked up there for over four years before being
declared innocent.
The witness agreed that the case got attention from
Irish politicians and that his son would have spent longer in jail if this
wasn't the case.
The trial continues before the Special Criminal Court
tomorrow morning with a witness from the US due to give evidence.
Source: Independent
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Empowerment of women in Saudi museums sector in
spotlight at open discussion forum
January 27, 2022
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Museum Commission hosted an
open discussion on Wednesday about the empowerment women in the museums sector.
The event, at the National Museum in Riyadh, was
moderated by Maha bint Amer Al-Shukhil, a faculty member at Princess Nourah
Bint Abdulrahman University, and the participants included Stefano Carboni, the
CEO of the commission.
The topics addressed during the discussion included
the roles and work of Saudi women, creating change in the Museums Commission,
and the need to develop job opportunities for women in the museums field.
Participants also discussed how to foster cooperation
between universities and the Museums Commission, the role and importance of
museums in society, encouraging and highlighting efforts by women in the field,
providing training and volunteering opportunities in the commission, and giving
women more opportunities to work in the museums sector.
Carboni said that the objectives of the commission
include providing advisory services, providing specialized courses and programs
on museum management, offering opportunities to learn about specialized
establishments in the sector, and working to develop communication skills
between museums and visitors.
On the sidelines of the session, Hind Al-Turki, the
head of the history department at Princess Nourah University, spoke about the
necessity of offering field-training opportunities for female students
specializing in the museums sector, to improve their knowledge and provide
practical experience, and to present programs and workshops.
The commission said that the session was part of its
efforts to communicate with the public and promote dialogue with workers in the
sector to identify their needs and aspirations, and work to achieve them, based
on the authority’s responsibility for developing and enhancing the museums
sector in the Kingdom, and supporting and empowering its employees.
Source: Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2012836/saudi-arabia
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WHO: Many women and girls still die of complications
due to unsafe abortion
January 27, 2022
GENEVA — New insights into quality of care for girls
and women facing medical complications due to unsafe abortion were published on
Wednesday by the UN health agency and partners.
Although too many girls and women continue to die and
face both the short and long-term repercussions of unsafe abortions,
potentially life-saving information on receiving quality care for
abortion-related complications, remains in short supply.
To address this gap, the UN system for human
reproduction research, HRP, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners,
published new data on the issue, in the latest edition of the International
Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.
The WHO and HRP multi-country survey on abortion
(MCS-A) gathered evidence on the provision, experience and quality of care,
based on a study conducted across 17 countries in the African, Latin American
and Caribbean regions.
And in a special supplement, it highlights work
covering 11 sub-Saharan African countries.
“This supplement shows how far we still have to go in ensuring
quality, respectful post-abortion care for all; it also proves how much we can
learn when we commit to working together”, said Özge Tunçalp, Medical Officer
at WHO and HRP.
“Across 11 countries, knowledge has been gained and
research capacity has been strengthened”.
To ensure the health and well-being of girls and women
who face abortion-related complications, it is crucial to understand what works
in their clinical management and care.
In addition to providing this, the newly published
papers also explore the experiences of adolescents and women in accessing
support in insecure environments.
“A stronger research community is better able to
listen, ask and answer questions, working together for a future where every
woman and girl achieves the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health
and rights”, said Dr. Tunçalp.
Through the WHO and HRP multi-country study on
abortion, data was collected on over 23,000 women attending health facilities
with abortion-related complications.
While most had mild or moderate abortion-related
complications, there were many who had severe or even life-threatening
difficulties, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
A comprehensive approach to abortion and post-abortion
care includes clinical care, self-care, task-sharing for providing care, and
legal frameworks that support health systems.
These are all critical to delivering high-quality
care, which also incorporates access to a range of affordable and acceptable
contraception options – key for safeguarding human rights to health and bodily
autonomy.
The papers in the supplement show that countries need
to move fast to ensure that healthcare providers and systems can improve the
standard of quality care for girls and women.
An editorial that’s part of the study, highlights
important actions that decision-makers in the sub-Saharan Africa region can
take to make a difference, such as increasing access to high-quality abortion
services at all levels of healthcare.
Other steps include improving the quality of
evidence-based post-abortion care in which healthcare providers use recommended
practices; auditing the availability of equipment and supplies; and conducting
clinical audits to better understand why health complications arise.
Identifying and using interventions that go beyond the
health system are also recommended, such as addressing harmful beliefs held by
healthcare providers; recognizing and addressing constraints of health systems;
and ensuring that girls and women are empowered.
“While we still face many challenges and obstacles to
ensuring access to high-quality abortion and post-abortion care for all women,
we believe that efforts such as the MCS-A in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin
America and the Caribbean represent an important step forward”, said Seni
Kouanda and Zahida Qureshi, authors of the supplement’s editorial.
They also shared their hopes that the work presented
throughout the supplement “will help inspire innovations and insights to help
fulfill women’s reproductive rights”. — UN News
Source: Saudi Gazette
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PTI Govt Taking Measures To Empower Women Socially,
Economically: SACM
Mohammad Ali
January 26, 2022
LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jan,
2022 ) :Special Assistant to Chief Minister (SACM) Punjab on Information Hasaan
Khawar on Wednesday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was taking
effective measures for empowering women socially and economically.
Addressing the launching ceremony of an NGO here, the
SACM said that women were discharging their social and domestic obligations in
a befitting manner, adding that the government, number of private institutions
and organizations were working on the empowerment of Pakistani women
economically by providing them business opportunities.
Hasaan Khawar stressed the need to equip the women
with business skills by arranging training workshops, mentorship programmes and
business incubation. He said that Pakistani businessmen invested more than US$
350 million in 2021, adding that the share of women in this investment was only
1.1 percent which should definitely be increased.
He further stated that Pakistan had 9th largest
workforce in the world which had only 21 percent women participation, adding
that the share of women workforce in GDP was only 10 percent.
Hasaan Khawar said that effective participation of
women in business was utmost necessary in order to make Pakistan one of the
strongest economies in the world as it was the only long term and sustainable
solution for Pakistan's economic development.
He said that such initiatives were not only
encouraging the women financially but also helping them increase their
self-esteem.
He termed the coming decade in Pakistan a decade of
women especially business women, adding, "The government is hopeful that
we are moving towards a right direction and the Punjab government is
facilitating women by setting up 187 day care centres." He said the
government was paying special attention on Mother & Child health and three
hospitals had been set up for this purpose whereas six more were being established.
Hasaan Khawar said, "We need maximum
participation of women in every field of life including decision making and
politics."He said the achievements of the present government in the
health, education, industries and the corporate sector were visible.
"Sehat Insaf Card provides an opportunity to the less privileged class to
get treatment in private hospitals" he added.
Source: Urdu Point
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/pti-govt-taking-measures-to-empower-women-soc-1456658.html
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/turkish-journalist-sedef-kabas-sezen-aksu/d/126251