Turkish colonel says headscarf a "symbol of terrorism”

Turkish Col. Ali Çakmakkaya, a judge, describes the headscarf as a "symbol of terrorism” in a voice recording, in which he also uses profanity while referring to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife, Emine Erdogan.

According to Today’s Zaman, the voice recording was released on Twitter on Tuesday, June 26, although the date of the recording remains unknown. A caption provided with the recording says Çakmakkaya made the statements in an official military setting.

Criticizing Erdogan for not wearing a tie during his meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Çakmakkaya says Erdogan had put an end to state culture in Turkey. He talks about the wives of Erdogan and Assad: "You look at the wife of the other [Assad]; she is pretty modern and [looks] European.” He adds that Erdogan’s wife is not like this, using expletives in his description of Emine Erdogan. (...)