Top religious body investigates mufti’s comments on women who don’t wear the headscarf

ANKARA

Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) launched an investigation against a mufti over his sexist comments insinuating women who do not wear the headscarf were like “products sold at half price” on Sept. 22. 

The investigation came after Mehmet Yazıcı, the mufti of the Marmara province of Kocaeli’s Gölcük district, likened women without headscarves to products sold at half price in a post on his Facebook account. 

“Display products whose packages are opened are sold at half prices in stores,” he wrote.
 
Yazıcı, who has been the district’s mufti since 2013, deleted his post immediately after drawing anger from social media users.

His remarks ignited wider tension over social media, with many users accusing the mufti of degrading women who do not wear the headscarf. 

Daily Hürriyet columnist Ertuğrul Özkök described the man as “insensitive.”

“Men or women are not products which can be displayed and sold,” he wrote in a column. 
 
The remarks also come after similar derogatory comments toward women who do not wear the headscarf at a symposium in Istanbul on Sept. 4. 

Emine Merve Akyüz, a speaker at a symposium held by Akademya Magazine and the Üsküdar Municipality, compared women without headscarves to peeled tomatoes.

“Muslim women have to be covered. Nobody wants to buy a peeled tomato. In this sense, veiling also protects women’s essence and shape,” she said, also drawing harsh reactions over social media.