Rehmat
02-03-2008, 08:20 AM
The ruling Justice and Development Party and the far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP) opposition party have agreed a constitutional amendment to allow a compromise headscarf on campus by crypto-Jew Kemalist military dictatorship in 1980.
Under the deal between the two parties, women and girls at universities are permitted to cover their heads by tying the headscarf in the traditional way beneath the chin.
A majority of women use the traditional "basortusu" - head cover in Turkish - thatis more or less loosely knotted under the chin for protection against the elements or for modesty. But the ban would remain on the wrap-round headscarf, which secularists claim is associated with political Islam, as well as face-veil.
Wives of both current President and prime minister wear hijab, which is obligatory for women in Islam. Prime minister Erdogan's daughters were forced to study abroad because of the existing hijab ban.
Secularist forces, including the army and senior judges, see the headscarf as a symbol of defiance against Turkey's fiercely guarded secular system.
In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the headscarf ban in Turkish universities was not a violation of fundamental freedoms and could be necessary to protect Turkey's secular order against "extremist movements."
Under the deal between the two parties, women and girls at universities are permitted to cover their heads by tying the headscarf in the traditional way beneath the chin.
A majority of women use the traditional "basortusu" - head cover in Turkish - thatis more or less loosely knotted under the chin for protection against the elements or for modesty. But the ban would remain on the wrap-round headscarf, which secularists claim is associated with political Islam, as well as face-veil.
Wives of both current President and prime minister wear hijab, which is obligatory for women in Islam. Prime minister Erdogan's daughters were forced to study abroad because of the existing hijab ban.
Secularist forces, including the army and senior judges, see the headscarf as a symbol of defiance against Turkey's fiercely guarded secular system.
In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the headscarf ban in Turkish universities was not a violation of fundamental freedoms and could be necessary to protect Turkey's secular order against "extremist movements."