"There are six or seven words for 'veil' in our language, so it has a different nuance or emphasis. Its meaning can be religious, cultural or political but you can't lump all those together. Some women here and abroad get very tense and strident about this question but we need to find a way not to generalise or simplify. Not just about the present but also about the past.

ELIF SHAFAK in an interview with Caroline Baum
in The Age