Necla Kelek: I Love My Nose

A German sociologist of Turkish descent, a hard and fearless critic of Islamism, a fighter for women’s rights, born in 1957 in Istanbul. As a ten-year-old, she came from the archaic Anatolian village to Germany. During her teen years, she was kept closed in a flat according to the strict customs of Anatolian morals. She was freed after her violent father disappeared, then thanks to her studies, and her nose! “If you were more beautiful, you would not have studied, you would be married, like your sister,” her mother told her. Necla Kelek loves her noticeable nose. Her main interest is what she calls “a parallel Muslim society in Germany”. In the bestseller Die fremde Braut [Foreign Bride], she analysed the fates of Turkish women in Germany and the practice of “importing” brides and grooms from Turkey. The book was awarded the prestigious Geschwister-Scholl-Preis [Sisters Scholl Award]. Her books Die Verlorenen Söhne [Lost Sons] and Chaos der Kulturen: Die Debatte um Islam und Integration [Chaos of Cultures: The Debate about Islam and Integration] are devoted to the theme of the influence of traditions and Islam on the integration of Turks into German society.