WUNRN
February 22, 2008
Turkey
Eases Headscarf Ban at Universities
ANKARA,
Turkey, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Turkish President Abdullah Gul
approved an easing of the headscarf ban at universities Friday.
He said he believed the bill aims "to enforce the equality principal and
the education right," Hurriyet reported.
"Some of our citizens' concerns are understandable and the arrangement to
ease those concerns must be put in place," the president said in a
release.
Gul, whose wife wears a headscarf, said he "believes that maximum
sensitivity and effort should be made in order to ease these concerns."
The government's move to ease the headscarf ban, imposed in 1980, is as
controversial as moves in other countries to ban it. Some see it as a gradual
encroachment of Islamism into Turkey's secular society but Human Rights Watch
has called the ban discriminatory against women seeking an education.
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February 2008
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Turkey
Eases Ban on Headscarves |
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Turkey's parliament has
approved two constitutional amendments easing the ban on women wearing
Islamic headscarves in universities. The issue is deeply divisive in Turkey,
where the state is strictly secular, and protests are expected. The government said the ban meant many
girls were being denied an education. But the secular establishment, including
generals and academics, see this as a first step to allowing Islam to figure
more largely in public life. Burka ban Parliament voted 403-107 in favour of a
first amendment, which will insert a paragraph into the constitution stating
that everyone has the right to equal treatment from state institutions,
Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan was quoted by AP as saying. MPs then backed by 403-108 votes a second
amendment stating "no-one can be deprived of [his or her] right to
higher education", AP said. Opposition parties said in
advance of the vote that they would challenge the changes in the
constitutional court if they were passed. A strict headscarf ban had been in force in
Turkish universities since 1997. The ban came after the staunchly secularist
military had exerted pressure to oust a government it saw as too Islamist. The changes state that only traditional
scarves will be permitted in universities, tied loosely under the chin.
Headscarves that cover the neck are still banned, as is the chador and the
all-enveloping burka. Ural Akbulut, rector of the Middle East
Technical University, in Ankara, says the changes represent the imposition of
religious beliefs into the constitution. "We say it will damage
secularity," he told the BBC. "Once you do that - we believe you
damage democracy." Missing out The BBC's Sarah Rainsford says those who
wear the headscarf dismiss that as paranoia. They say the scarf is simply
an expression of their personal religious belief. As Turkey's population is predominantly
Muslim, two-thirds of all Turkish women cover their heads, meaning thousands
have been missing out on the opportunity to attend college. Many Turks argue
that is unfair and there has been widespread public support for the move. But tens of thousands of people who were
against lifting the ban are expected to join protest rallies in the capital
on Saturday. |
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