Archive for August, 2010

Or Loving Many Wives

Polygamy is the practice where one person has more than one spouses at the same time. There is a distinction between polygyny (more than one wife) and polyandry (more than one husband) but the term has entered common speech with its more common incidence of having more than one wife.

Among Buddhists it is considered a lesser marriage but practiced in Thailand, Burma, Tibet, parts of China. In modern times it is still an existing practice among the American Mormons, in African and in Muslim states.

Polygamy in Turkey was officially criminalized in 1926 as another step towards the secularization of the state. Nonetheless, it is still practiced in some parts of the country. The problem arises from the fact that there are no punitive actions taken against people who do this despite the legislative regulations.

Recently a scandal broke in the Turkish media about a recently appointed councilor of the prime minister. It was confirmed that Ali Yuksel has three religious marriages with three women. Moreover, he has called himself “sheikh-al-islam”- a title of superior authority on religious matters.

This new scandal comes in a long line of scandals connected to the government of the Prime Minister Tayyir Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Yuksel’s alternative way of life became came to public knowledge when he gave an interview in which he said he has three wives and intends to marry a forth one. According to some interpretations of Islam it is allowed for a man to have up to four wives as long as he can support all of them and give them equal attention.

The ruling party has been criticized for considering it normal to have such people among its community. It is a fact that there are more cases of such husbands among the members of the party. According to their understanding this is not adultery but Islam.

Other ultra conservative notions have been brought up by party officials. The Prime Minister Erdogan recently encouraged all Turkish families to have at least three kids. The party tried to pass a bill banning adultery in the state but was quickly revoked because of criticism from the European Union.

Maybe one of the most outrageous scandals was when the Major of the province Rize (also from AKP) suggested using polygamous marriages with Kurdish women to solve the problem with that minority. In his words, this way the issue will be resolved without military conflict by assimilating the ethnical group.

If you plan to travel in the country you might consider hiring a car. Car rental companies in Turkey are Europcar, Filo Cars, Aga Oglu Rental and Miller Car Rental.