FGN hails Turkey s plan to lift ban on headscarf?
28 January 2008, Future Global Network (FGN), a Kuala Lumpur-based network of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) geared towards peace and justice for
humanity, hails the Turkish governments proposal to lift the ban on headscarf
on university campuses, including women professionals and employees in public
institutions.
The headscarf ban was imposed by the secular Turkish government as a barrier
to the perceived threat of Islams encroachment into the political field, and
to protect women who chose not to wear the headscarf, sometime after the
military coup in 1980.
But according to Human Rights Watch, the headscarf prohibition is an
unwarranted infringement on the right to religious practice, as well as a
violation of womens right to education, freedom of thought, conscience and
privacy. In addition, headscarves do not pose a threat to public safety,
health, order or morals, and do not impinge on the rights of others, it said.
The ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, with the support of the
Nationalist Movement (MHP) Party, plan to lift the ban through Parliament. Both
parties have an overwhelming Parliamentary majority to achieve a desired
Constitutional Amendments that would merit the staging of a referendum to pave
the way for cleansing the nation of peripheral problems. The referendum is
expected to clear the way for further discussion involving the Constitutional
Court through which the Opposition hopes to derail any constitutional changes.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan said he wants a ban on the Islamic
headscarf in universities abolished as soon as possible despite harsh
objections from secularists.
Turkish students and teachers who were banned from entering school campuses
with a headscarf by the Higher Education Council have appealed to the European
Court of Human Rights for redress of grievances. The Court is expected to
deliver its judgment on the issue anytime. The Higher Education Council was
created by the military after the 1980 coup in Turkey.
FGN fully supports the Government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in
lifting the headscarf ban and that should have been a non-issue, and restoring
human rights which has been denied the Muslims more than any other country,
including Europe and the USA
AHMAD AZAM ABDUL RAHMAN
Chairman, Future Global Network, Malaysia;
Council Member, Union of NGOs of Islamic World, Istanbul, Turkey; and
Trustee, Munazzamat al-Dawah al-Islamiyya, Khartoum, Sudan.
www.futureglobalnetwork.com
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