Turkish MPs plan headscarf reform
*Two major parties in Turkey have submitted a joint plan to parliament
to ease a ban on the Islamic headscarf in the country's universities. *
The Islamist-rooted governing AK Party and the nationalist MHP say it is
an issue of human rights and freedoms.
The two parties have enough votes in parliament to overturn the
constitutional ban on headscarves.
A strict headscarf ban has been in force in universities since 1997. It
was ordered by the secularist military.
The issue is highly controversial in a mainly Muslim country whose
secular elite - including the powerful military - sees the headscarf as
a symbol of political Islam, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul says.
The move to ease the ban has been criticised by judges and university
officials.
*Chadors, veils and burkas will not be allowed - no-one will be allowed
to use headscarves as political statements against the state *
Devlet Bahceli, MHP leader
"Solving the headscarf issue would relax a large segment of the
society," MHP leader Devlet Bahceli was quoted as saying by the
Associated Press news agency.
"It is a question of rights and freedoms," he added.
The reforms are a compromise though, our correspondent says.
The proposed changes state that only traditional scarves will be
permitted in universities, tied loosely under the chin.
Headscarves that cover the neck, like those worn by many Turkish girls,
will still be banned, as will the all-covering burka, or chador.
* Power struggle *
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stressed that this reform will
be restricted to universities.
It will not apply to women civil servants, including teachers, who are
still banned from covering their heads.
A power struggle last year between secular forces and the governing AK
Party ended with the AKP being comprehensively re-elected in July.
Opinion polls suggest there is strong public support for lifting the
ban. And some women refuse to go to university because of it.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7214827.stm
Published: 2008/01/30 07:06:38 GMT
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