By Burak Akinci

ANKARA: An attack by Islamists on a young Turkish woman wearing a bikini on a beach has reopened the question of the direction that the country, overwhelmingly Muslim but traditionally secular, is now taking.

The incident happened earlier this month at the resort of Karaburun, near Izmir in the west of the country, the most Europeanized part.

The young woman had asked a group of headscarf-wearing women and their families not to soil the beach with the used diapers of their children, only to be called a prostitute because she was wearing a bikini. She was then attacked by the men in the group.

The affair might have been dismissed in a couple of paragraphs in the local press but the woman filed a complaint. Furthermore she is the daughter of a journalist on the mass-circulation Hurriyet newspaper which picked up the story and attacked the departure from secular, non-religious principles.

The attack became big news in a country where since the Justice and Development party (AKP), which has Islamist roots, came to power in 2002.

The powerful secular lobby, which includes the armed forces, has repeatedly condemned what it sees as the galloping Islamization of the country.

Luxury hotels have opened on the coast, which apply strict Islamist rules, offering guests, for example, beaches and swimming pools segregated by sex.

Sales of hasema swimming costumes that cover religiously observant women from head to toe and include a head covering are booming.

 The Religion of Peace^TM

The Manila Times