More than a century after Kemal Ataturk gave the country his name, the overall scenery in Turkey has changed largely towards the more orthodox view of Islam.
Gone are the days when Turkey could make a fair claim to a certain type of European-ness, which was after all, Ataturk's vision.
Many have started to hear the rumble of orthodoxy more than a decade ago. And the prime minister who is clearly more orthodox than secular was elected amid rumblings from the military, who are the keepers of the secular flame.
The news this week that the Turkish airliner had barred its stewardesses from wearing lipstick and nail polish in any shade of red, has shaken many secularists who for more than a decade have feared a return to an orthodoxy most Turks don't even remember.
While the Airliner's spokesman has explained that 'pastels' are a better way to gain a rapport with the flyers, many don't buy it. It is a millennia old belief that red lipstick is a highly erotic signal, which in antiquity was supposed to mimic a woman's genitals.
But the Airliner has made other significant changes that betray its pandering to a more conservative government, such as not serving alcohol, and employee's general appearance. Since the airline is state owned, it would easily have been influenced by government forces.
The Prime Minister, in fact, was once part of an Islamic party that was banned, although he has in part made easier the enforcement of religious tenets in matters of clothing, although the relaxation was seen as a loss by secularists, who had imposed a ban on the head covering, but it allowed more religious women liberal access to universities and other state owned offices. But at the same time, he was criticized when his wife wore a head scarf at his inauguration. In fact many held their breath, after he was elected, fearing that the military might retake power, as his election was seen as an Islamist plot.
Yet many women and men are protesting at the move. The men are offended that the Islamist forces withing the govt could think that men would become animal-like at the sight of a woman in lipstick. Women for their part have taken to the internet in pictures wearing bright red lipstick, in protest.
But in truth, there is a move towards orthodoxy, and no one can take small gestures lightly and dismiss them. This is, like everything else governments do, a litmus test. If it passes, other smaller moves might be introduced in a creeping attempt at undoing Ataturk's sweeping reform of the country.
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