http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KF05Ak02.html
Jun 5, 2009 KEBABBLE Turkey mourns a secular saint By Fazile Zahir FETHIYE, Turkey - Turkey hasn't seen a woman's funeral like it since feminist hero Duygu Asena was laid to rest in 2006. Women of all shapes and sizes, colors and backgrounds, head-scarved and bare-headed filled the streets of Sisli, Istanbul on May 19, before packing like sardines the traditionally male-only areas of the Tesvikiye mosque. They wept together, disparate people united in their grief at the passing of avowed secularist Professor Turkan Saylan. As at Asena's funeral, old taboos were broken when almost every sentence delivered by Imam Ihsan Ozkes was vigorously applauded. Lauded all over the nation for her part in supporting and funding the education of girls and women from Turkey's most underprivileged families, her efforts were celebrated at the memorial service. "Turkan Saylan worked her whole life to reduce other people's burdens, to advance them and enrich them", Deniz Baykal, the leader of the opposition, said in his speech. "Her name deserves to always be remembered with respect in every country. That she grew up here is a source of pride for all of us." Former prime minister Mesut Yilmaz echoed his words, "I've never seen such a large crowd in the courtyard of a mosque, she will always be remembered not just for her work in the field of education but as a defender of the [Turkish] republic." Notable by their conspicuous absence were any members of the current government. Had they attended, they would have faced hostility and perhaps violence - they have been accused of hastening the beloved professor's death. It was events in April, instigated by the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party, that ensured her funeral had the flavor of a political rally. After suffering from breast cancer for over five years, and being hospitalized for most of 2009, in the second week of April Saylan received permission from her doctors to spend a weekend at home after a debilitating bout of chemotherapy. Government agents and police chose that weekend to raid the offices and homes of her charity, Cagdas Yasam Destekleme Dernegi (CYDD) - meaning Modern Life Support Association - which has provided educational scholarships to over 36,000 girls since 1989. As the frail 73-year-old lay sick in her bed, she watched as her mementos and papers were trashed and taken away by police over allegations she was involved in the extreme right-wing Ergenekon coup plot. Her colleagues were put under surveillance and files removed from over 17 offices without warning or the chance to copy documents vital for scholarships. The charity estimates that 550 girls were unable to get their scholarships as a result. Saylan issued a statement on the website www.cydd.org.tr stating that the organization's aims had always been transparent and that she supported neither a military coup or sharia (Islamic) law, but the secular ideals of Turkey's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. She used the media to criticize the government's behavior, calling it unjustified and illegal. Coming from a charismatic woman her words were made all the more poignant by her obviously failing health. The public and the media were outraged that a woman known for her charitable work - who discriminated against no one on the basis of religion or politics - should be subject to this humiliation while so obviously close to death. It is unclear if the accusations leveled at her crushed her spirit, but it is certain they tainted her last month spent alive. Her supporters have demanded an apology from the government and "Turkey is secular and will stay secular" was chanted in the streets at her funeral. Her right-hand woman in the CYDD, ex-minister for justice Aysel Celikel, said if the Saylan's action were "considered to support a coup, then all of us are 'coup-istas'". A wreath of red-and-white carnations sent by the Turkish army had a card which read "We are all Ataturk's soldiers", and her coffin was shrouded in the national flag. The government remains tight-lipped and intransigent on the subject. Saylan founded the CYDD in 1989 with the aim of building schools and providing educational grants - when fighting for equal opportunities for girls, she was a force to be reckoned with. As a doctor specializing in dermatology Saylan also took a special interest in Turkey's leprosy sufferers. She founded the Leprosy Relief Association and Foundation in the 1970s and was a founding member of the International Leprosy Union. In 1986 she received the International Gandhi Award in India for her work in this field. But she attracted as much venom and hate from the hardline Islamic media as love and respect from fellow secularists. Rumors were spread that she was a Christian missionary and had received funding from the World Council of Churches. Some said she was a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party because her activities helped Kurdish children, while others called her an "evil feminist" who was out to corrupt pious Muslim girls. Some journalists used their columns to call for her arrest. She openly admitted that her mother was a Swiss Christian who had converted to Islam after marriage, but said any money received from church organizations was a token amount. She agreed to the charge that was a missionary but with one proviso - she was a missionary of education. Despite being hauled up in front of the attorney general several times she was never charged with any misdemeanors. She is a great loss to Turkey, whether as an opponent to creeping forces of hardline Islamists or as the mother and benefactor of thousands of girl scholars. One can only hope that her light is not extinguished but like an Olympic torch passed on to the next generation of Turkey's young women. Fazile Zahir is of Turkish descent, born and brought up in London. She moved to live in Turkey in 2005 and has been writing full time since then. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
