I ENJOYED going through your editorial ‘Turkey and the Arab world’ (Dec 4). It is true that Turkey is still a rare example of democratic norms, especially where the status of women in Islamic states is concerned.

But the reason why these laws have not been changed to Islamic norms is because the government does not have a two-thirds majority to initiate amendments, particularly when secular Turkish parties and many in Turkey will fight if the spirit of Ataturk’s Turkey is tampered with.

I am also worried about other countries where Islamists are gaining support. I am particularly worried about Tunisia where the condition of its women is unrivalled in the Arab world. That is all thanks to Habib Bourguiba, the founding father of the modern Tunisian state, who outlawed polygamy, granted women equal rights, including getting a divorce, and legalised abortion.

Ben Ali, Tunisia’s toppled dictator, continued Bourguiba’s work, expanding parental, divorce and custody rights for women and promoting their education and employment.

Statistics show that whereas in 1960 nearly half of the women were married by the time they had turned 20, by 2004 only three per cent of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 were married, divorced or widowed.

The literacy rate for women in Tunisia is now over 70 per cent, though only 27 per cent of the labour force is female. Women make up nearly two-thirds of university students, compared with two-fifths in Egypt.

My worry is that Islamist parties will try to tamper with women’s rights. We know that in Pakistan once laws are changed with Islamic laws, then nobody has the guts to undo them.

Democracy is far better than dictatorships but when religion is mixed with politics, it can have negative repercussions.

SHARIF LONEAmanzimtoti, South Africa