The Headscarf Controversy
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Death sentence for Rapper ToomajTehran's legitimacy crisis
The rapper Toomaj Salehi has been sentenced to death in Iran. His case shows how the regime is fighting to maintain its power, and against whom
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Iran's authoritarian dress codeTehran seeks to enforce hijab rules again
The hijab is not just a piece of clothing. This traditional headscarf holds deep cultural and political significance in Iran. The Islamist regime demands that women wear it for the sake of morality and order. Nonetheless, a considerable number of women have stopped doing so entirely. By Shora Azarnoush
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LGBTQ+ rights in TurkeyAnti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric intensifies
During this year's election campaigns, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vilified the LGBTQ+ community in an attempt to strengthen his support among conservative voters and drive a wedge between the parties of the opposition alliance. Now the government wants to introduce constitutional amendments that rights groups fear would further marginalise LGBTQ+ people. By Ayşe Karabat
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The headscarf controversyEnd of Germany's culture war?
Berlin is the last federal state in Germany to approve the wearing of headscarves by teachers. The fact that the courts have had to demand this time and again does not however reflect well on German politics. By Daniel Bax
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Iran protestsWhat the Islamic Republic's propaganda tells us
Challenging one of the Islamic Republic's most identifiable symbols – the hijab – with some breathtaking, iconographic feminist art, Iran's activists have wrested ownership away from the clerics with regard to who represents the nation, defines its present and shapes its future. Essay by Kevin L. Schwartz & Olmo Goelz
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Protests in IranIslamic Republic facing a religious watershed
Iranians do not want an Islam that interferes. They are fed up with a system that manipulates people with simple promises of salvation and anti-Western propaganda. Islamic theologian Hamideh Mohagheghi sees Iran at a religious crossroads
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Turkey20 years of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the AKP
On 3 November 2002, Erdogan's newly founded AKP, Justice and Development Party, came to power in Turkey. It has ruled the country ever since, becoming more authoritarian with each victory. By Elmas Topcu
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Muslimas on InstagramThe many ways to tie a headscarf
Some German women who’ve converted to Islam are choosing to maintain a public presence on social media such as Instagram, under names such as "Hijabi on Tinder“. In doing so, they’re fending off the cliches and the hate – no matter where it comes from. Julia Ley reports
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How feminist are the protests in Iran?The struggle for self-determination
In their struggle for self-determination, Iranians are displaying a level of courage and cohesion we have not seen before. And this is why the protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s violent death are feminist, writes Katajun Amirpur
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Iranian lawyer appeals for solidarity"Iranian women need the world's help"
Mahsa Amini’s crime, which led to her death at the hands of Iran’s morality police, was wearing the hijab incorrectly. A legal expert from inside Iran, who prefers to remain anonymous, explains the political dimensions of this special piece of cloth to Ehsan Hosseinzadeh
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Turkey's headscarf debateThe politics of hijab
In Turkey, the secular opposition is seeking to enshrine the right of women to wear a headscarf in law – scoring an own goal that plays straight into President Erdogan’s hands. Yet again, men are arguing about women's clothing. By Burak Unveren
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Golineh Atai's unsung heroinesIn Iran, freedom is female
In "Iran. Die Freiheit ist weiblich", journalist Golineh Atai describes the dogged resistance of courageous Iranian women against the Islamic Republic and the mullahs who have ruled Iran for more than 40 years. Claudia Mende read the book for Qantara.de