US embassy cable - 02ANKARA8532

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 008532 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2012 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PINS, PINR, TU 
SUBJECT: BEHIND THE MAN: THE FAMILY OF NEW TURKISH PM 
ABDULLAH GUL 
 
 
REF: ANKARA 8358 
 
 
(C) Classified by Acting Political Counselor Nicholas Kass. 
Reason: 1.5 (b)(d). 
 
 
1. (C) Summary and comment: Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah 
Gul (reftel), Number Two man in the Islam-influenced AK 
(Justice and Development) Party of R. Tayyip Erdogan, is a 
democrat and political reformist who nonetheless heads a 
family that takes Islam seriously and reflects his own moral 
proclivities.  End summary. 
 
 
2. (C) Gul's wife Hayrunnisa and three children share and 
reflect the PM's strong Muslim faith.  The 40ish Mrs. Gul 
wears the Islamic headscarf (note: as do approximately half 
of the wives of the AK Government ministers.  End comment.) 
Married young (before the age of 16), Hayrunnisa Gul could be 
considered by many elite Turks as a stereotypical covered 
Muslim wife.  Yet she has a noticeable if demure presence of 
her own, reflected in her conservative yet stylish attire, 
opulent yet tasteful jewelry -- and her steely determination 
to challenge Kemalist propriety.  She has a case pending 
against the Turkish State in the European Court of Human 
Rights for denying her matriculation at Ankara University 
Faculty of Letters for wearing the headscarf; she had passed 
the admissions test (which, in more traditionalist fashion, 
she took after her children were grown) with flying colors. 
A similar case was scheduled for the ECHR Nov. 19, which 
could serve as a precedent. 
 
 
-- The soft-spoken Hayrunnisa presents herself as a woman 
more concerned with her family than her husband's political 
ambitions.  Privately to poloff, Hayrunnisa has been quick to 
point out that her husband is the politician in the family. 
She nevertheless also staunchly defends her political 
affiliation, her country, her religion, and her right -- 
attenuated, in her view, by the Turkish State's outmoded and 
overly harsh understanding of secularism -- to practice her 
religion. 
 
 
-- The Gul's daughter, Kubra, 19, is herself engaged on the 
headscarf front as a student at Ankara's Bilkent University, 
where English is the language of instruction.  Though Bilkent 
is known for its more open and dynamic approach to education 
-- particularly when compared to bastions of Kemalism such as 
Ankara University -- Kubra Gul explained to poloff that she 
adheres to Muslim tradition by covering her head with a wig 
when in class -- thereby avoiding the risk of a head-on 
confrontation with GOT enforcers of Kemalist principles and 
being banned from classes (and we expect, embroiling her 
father in controversy).  According to a senior AK official, 
preliminary negotiations are underway to arrange a marriage 
between Kubra Gul and one of Tayyip Erdogan's sons. 
 
 
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Comment 
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3. (C) Abdullah Gul is widely regarded even by many Kemalist 
secularists as an engaging, tolerant man, though one with 
deep convictions.  These traits, and the evident importance 
of Islam to the Gul family, reflect a cardinal Ozalist virtue 
that is a key to success in Turkish politics, and to Turkish 
social peace: to be at once both modern and forward looking, 
yet with an abiding respect for the religious and traditional 
values. 
PEARSON