38. Today in 1920s Turkey: 12 December 1925 (Passive Protest)
Comments:
On 25 November 1925 a law was passed banning the wearing of the fez by citizens of the new Turkish state and restricting the use of turbans and other religious attire to members of the ulema (religious officials). In the months leading up to this reform, newspapers and satirical journals weighed in on the issue, some offering support to the administration’s cause by encouraging citizens to adopt the Western-style hat and coming up with clever ways of mocking the fezzes.
In the days and weeks following the “hat reform” (şapka devrimi) citizens across the country opposed to the new public dress-code regulations staged various forms of protest and resistance. As a result of the more organized, public protests (especially those that took place in Kayseri, Maraş, Sivas, Rize, and Erzurum) hundreds were arrested and several dozen killed. Fearing legal repercussions or bodily harm, many resolved to silently protest the reform by avoiding the public sphere rather than surrendering to the demands of the new administration. This is precisely the method of protest criticized in today’s cartoon. Here, Karagöz (the journal’s mascot located in the lower right corner of the picture) scolds an old man for not accepting the new “dress code” and for making his wife run all of the household errands while he sits at home, reading his newspaper. Clearly galvanized by the government’s violent crackdown during previous encounters with protestors, Karagöz’s intolerant and threatening tone suggests that this man’s unwillingness to comply with the newly legislated norm is no laughing matter.
Bird-Brained Bigots Still Exist!
Neighbor woman: You see my situation, Mr. Karagöz. In order to not wear a hat, ours here isn’t leaving the house so I am carrying all of the household provisions.
Karagöz: You tell that husband of yours he should abandon that mentality or else he won’t leave the house-a corpse will. That I heard it is nothing, but if word gets to the ears of the police your next breath will be in a prison!
Hala Kuş Beyinli Yobazlar Var Ha!
Komşu Hanım: Halimi görüyorsun ya Karagöz çelebi, bizimki şapka giymemek için evden çıkmıyor, evin erzakını ben taşıyorum.
Karagöz: Sen o kocana söyle, o kafayı bıraksın, alimallah evden ölüsü çıkar, kendi çıkmaz, ben duymuşum birşey değil. Polisin kulağına gitti mi alimallah soluğu zindanda alırsın ha!
Police did indeed have the authority to fine those still wearing fezzes in public. While various western-style brimmed hats were the prescribed substitute for the fez, police were less likely to enforce the wearing of the hat (so long as they are not wearing fezzes). Thus, many turned to various caps such as the kasket and a mixture of European-style hats, with some people choosing to proudly display their bare heads. Other cartoons emerged after the passing of the law, suggesting profitable ways of discarding of the obsolete headgear, including selling them to trinket-hungry tourists.
Other Sources Consulted:
Brockett, Gavin D. “Collective Action and the Turkish Revolution: Towards a Framework for the Social History of the Atatürk Era, 1923–38,” Middle Eastern Studies 34 (1998): 44–66.
Yılmaz, Hale. “Dressing the Nation’s Citizens: Men’s Clothing Reforms in the Early Republic.” In: Becoming Turkish: Nationalist Reforms and Cultural Negotiations in Early Republican Turkey, 1923–1945, 22–77. New York: Syracuse University Press, 2013.
Originally published at https://steemit.com on December 13, 2016.
