TURKISH WOMEN AND THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2337, 19 December 1914, Page 11

TURKISH WOMEN AND THE WAR

'ANYTHING BUT CIPHERS. [Br Imogen.] The cablegram which appeared in yesterday's paper to the effect that refugees arriving from Tiflis reported that Turkish women during an anti-war demonstration threw stones and rioted for several hours, rending their clothes when the guards threatened them, and compelling the latter to retire by doing ho, according to the Islamic law, had its ludicrous side no doubt, but beneath It lay intense tragedy.. The news is probably exaggerated, but enough is left to show the intense antagonism of the Turkish women to the War if they even went to such a length! as to discard their veils. To be soen.'in publio without her veil is to a Turkish woman (at any fate up to recent years) to be indeed utterly abandoned to the nethermost depths of perdition. Imaginative Travellers. | Turkey, almost more than any other country either in the West or the East, has been the victim of the vivid imaginations of travellers who have not been allowed to penetrate into the inner life and the customs of her people, but who have not hesitated to send out broadcast to the world their,hastily-gathered impressions while flitting from place to place, something after the fashion of the author of "The Land of Veiled Women." No people in the world are more reserved, more loath to unveil the privacy of their lives, than the Turks, and none.have # guarded it more jealously. Another point that so often leads to misunderstanding .and misinterpretation lies in the fact that the traveller judges so much from his own standpoint, without remembering that the , country in which he may be has its own code of ethics, of beliefs, and of inhorited traditions, peculiarly adapted to the temperament of the people. Likei all other things, however they may deteriorate in the course of time, as Turkish ideals have deteriorated when compared to what they were in the .early days of Islam.

A Turkish Princess and Her People. No better or more reliable authority for the truth about Turkish life, Turkish aims ond aspirations can be found than that supplied' m a series of letters written by a Turkish Princess to an Englishwoman-about two; years ago, and by the latter interpreted and written as an article which, was published in the "Nineteenth Century.-' It tells of the part that women have played-in the history of Turkey, a part ■which she hoped they would yet play In the years to come. No visions of the war into which her country was to be hoodwinked in this year; of 1914 had crossed her mind, and to.her the realisation of what it means will, if- alive, bring the keenest anguish. We are told that long ago the Moslem lady achieved notable heights of culture and even of political influence. Women poetesses /and writers had reached enviable fame as early as the twelfth, ■fourteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. In those bygone days women were held in the deepest.respect. The ordinances of .their religion upheld them in their rights and especially in the Becond century of the Hegira, that most brilliant era of Arab:: civilisation, they were free to render important service to their country,' and worked on an equal footing with men fo further the cause of civilisation .and of progress. Reigning sovereigns, preachers, magistrates; directors of religious' bodies, and professors of theology can be cited among 1 the notable women of the time. Some held the posts of governors of important, towns,,,while .soma oven commanded 6tronghplds„'i'.'and '] ''' accompanied' their husbands-''.'when charging the enemy. Soma Cherished Delusions. The causes that led to decadence were given by the Princess as disbelief,'luxury,.debauchery, and ease of living, the same causes that led to the downfall of the Greeks and the ilomacs. Then women fell, becoming mere chattels, toys. The conquest of Constantinople was the finishing stroke to the liberties of Moslem women, and from that day began the selfish, indulgent, sensuous life of the harem which sapped, the intellectual and moral strength of its denizens. One of tho x most widely spread and fondly-cluug-to delusions in regard to Turkish' women is the statement that the Koran denies them souls. Over and over again it is seen in print and told in lectures.by these superficial travellers, who, if they took the trouble to look through the Koran, would see many verses that would disprove such a statement. One such runs as follows:—"And men who'remember God much and women who remember Him, God has prepared for them forgiveness and a mighty hire."!' ■ ' . ' ; . .

Another error which is also popular is that the seclusion, of the harem was part of Mahomet'e rule of life for women. Neither in. theory nor in practice did the Prophet enjoin seclusion for women. The Koran'did not enjoin it, and Mahomet's own womenfolk wore permitted great freedom from restraint. Fatima. his daughter', took part in political debates ',and his'granddaughter was a woman who was noted for her intrepedrfcy, hoth' in public and private life. The Modern Gospel.' The legal position of Turkish women even to-day can serve as a model to many countries that consider themselves much more enlightened than the country of the "unspeakable Turk,": particularly in regard to the law of divorce, property laws, and the law of inheritance. Here again, as with the Christian Church, the Fathers of the Church stepped in, and with the Sultans and the Kaliphs, did their best to misinterpret the law and to cause her privileges to fall into abeyance. Curiously enough, • this Eastern woman holds the same doctrine a3 the modern scientists and edacationists— that what women should aim at is to seek an education and occupation which which will make the most of the natural differences in her physical and mental constitution. What 6he required was not' identical occupation as man, but equal opportunity, not by becoming a poor imitation, but by making the best of her own innate differences to advance her along paths in vhicli there is no question of biological inefficiency. , It is interesting to learn that the more liberal Turkish newspapers are introducing special articles on questions affecting woman and her social and economic life, also reports of the_ part that Mohammedan women are takire in nffairs'of the city and country. Tho Turkish Government has established numerous lycees and normal schools for teachers, and schools for domestic training, and apparently has decided to work in every way for the uplifting of the future wives and' mothers of Turkey. That was before the war. _ With iheir awakening powers, awakening intelligences, it is small wonder that Turkish women have so passionately protested against a war that will cost them not only the.lives, of those they love, but will wipe their country from tho map of Europe, •' . For Weddings.—Appropriate Bouquets for either largo or smalll -wedding are being continually designed, and embody the unique distinction of all Miss Murray's creations. Flowers, for all occasions iforwarded to any part of the Do. minion by Miss Murray, Vice-Kegal Florist. 30 Willis Street-Advt. Michael Jladdatz, assistant-keeper alt tho Zoological Gardens at Toledo, Ohio. Iwas killed by an elephant. A year ago Raddatz inadvertently gave tho animal some soapy water to drink, and it is believed that the clophant nourished it? grievance,