TURKEY’S UNVEILED WOMEN.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 October 1925, Page 1

TURKEY’S UNVEILED WOMEN.

(Neville Smith 111 the " Dally Mail. )

The news that tlte wile 1,1 Mustapha Denial I’aslia. the Turkish l , ivsidcnl. |,a-, been divorced cinpha-the striking changes of the past few .wars in Turkey. Thanks largely to the lea,l ol Mine Keinal. wiio bought her bridal robes in I'aris and Used to go alamt in ruling breeches, the women ol Turkey are progressing rapidly towards complete emancipation. Within a few veais the visitor who looks lor veils ami mystery ill Staoihotll will probably see shingled Dappers handling cigarettes and lip-sticks. This is only one symptom of a universal change. The day seems not far distant, when improvements m mlrrnatiomd commumeation will have reduced the world to a flat and ntonolo-

noiiv unilorniity. Cuing or gone are many of the quaint native costumes which once diltereiil iaied one nationality Ironi am ijt her. Even in darkest' At l ira idle

natives are learning to Wear European clothes. in Europe, particularly in the colourful and turbulent Ibdkans. a lew relies of the pa si linger on, hut lor t!;,. mo : part niou are taking to coat.-, wai-iro.n- and trousers of Western ,Ic-,-igii and women are looking more and more to I’aris.

Njnee tic inception "1 tlm lteptibiie in Turkey, for iii-tanee, the emancipation ci women has done awa; with much oi tlm traditional Arabian Nights atmosphere oi that country. In Con-

stantinople all Tut a lew of the most religions women halve discarded veils and yashmaks and adopted Western costumes. Many ol them wear colourodd losses instead of the prescribed black, ami some of them have even abandoned tlte scarf swathing that Turkish women used io wear instead ot hats. In the smaller towns ot I urkey-jn-Asia and in the country districts Dm old dresses persist. Elsewhere _ in Europe the long gowns of the Turkish men which used to brighten inusiea: cornedv have gone, though occasionally oiu- sees brooches, gaiters, and astrakhan caps in Asiatic towns like Smyrna. The fez I- almost universally worn hy Mahommedans. but that is an innovation. going hack only to the early part oi b.X't century. Coming westwards into the Balkans, you hud the fez persisting a long way into Europe, even as far as Belgrade. The Balkan peoples, notoriously fond of uniforms, remain true to type. Soldiers ami officials would do credit to a comic opera : even Bulgarian policemen recall George Edwardes: and Belgrade on a fete day is a riot of colour and glittering swords. But it is only officers who carry this gorgeous plumage : the rankers are as drab as our Tommios. The distressing fact is that the civilian population of Balkans is growing