After a talk I gave in London a woman in the audience approached me: middle-aged, tall, and wearing a designer dress. Although she agreed with me on various issues she could not understand why I was critical of military takeovers. \u201cIn the Middle East a coup d\u2019\u00c3\u00a9tat is the only way forward,\u201d\u009d she said. \u201cIf it weren\u2019t for [Egypt\u2019s president] General Sisi, modern women like me, like yourself, would end up in a burka. He\u2019s there to protect the likes of us.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
As I listened to her, I recalled scenes from my childhood in Turkey. I remembered my mother saying that we should be grateful to General Kenan Evren, who led the coup d\u2019\u00c3\u00a9tat in 1980, for protecting women\u2019s rights. After the military seized power, a number of pro-women steps were taken, including the legalisation of abortion. Yet the coup would eventually bring about massive human rights violations and systematic torture in police headquarters and prisons, particularly against the Kurds, maiming Turkey\u2019s civil society and democracy for decades to come.<\/p>\n
Female adulation of male autocrats is widespread throughout the Middle East. I have met Syrian women who have tried to convince me that Bashar al-Assad is the best option for modern women. The Syrian regime seems aware of this rhetoric, recruiting hundreds of so-called Lionesses for National Defense , who are said to be fighting against Islamic fundamentalism and defending women\u2019s freedom.<\/p>\n