Turkey Reverses Female Army Officers' Headscarf Ban

BBC: A ban on female army officers in Turkey wearing the Muslim headscarf has been lifted by the government.

The military is the last Turkish institution to see the ban removed. It has long been seen as the guardian of Turkey's secular constitution.

Turkey has a secular constitution dating from the days of Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern republic, who did not like women covering their heads.

Wearing headscarves in public institutions was banned in the 1980s. » | Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Kosovo Orders Ban on Headscarves in Schools
Kosovo is one of Europe's majority Muslim countries, but now an administrative order has been issued banning the wearing of headscarves in schools. When one student refused to remove her headscarf, she was expelled. Al Jazeera's Paul Brennan reports.

London 2012 Olympics: Saudi Arabia Threaten[s] to Withdraw from Olympics over Judo Headscarf Ban

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Saudi Arabia have [has] threatened to withdraw from the London 2012 Olympic Games unless female judo athlete Wujdan Shahrkhani is allowed to wear her headscarf in competition.

The International Olympic Committee has organised an urgent meeting with Saudi Arabia national Olympic committee officials, the international judo federation, and London Olympic organisers to try and avert the Saudi withdrawal.

"Yes we have heard that the Saudis are not happy and we will have an urgent meeting, certainly in the next two days," an IOC spokesperson told Telegraph Sport.

The issue is particularly sensitive as the IOC president Jacques Rogge had spent many months attempting to ensure Saudi Arabian women were participating in the London Games, despite initial reticence by the Saudi royal family.

Saudi Arabia had been the only country which appeared not to be sending any female athletes to the Games. » | Jacquelin Magnay, Olympics Editor | Friday, July 27, 2012

Turkish Court Upholds College Headscarf Ban
ASSOCIATED PRESS: ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's top court ruled Thursday that Islamic head scarves violate secularism and cannot be allowed at universities.

The decision is a defeat for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-oriented government, which tried to allow the head scarves at universities as a matter of personal and religious freedom.

But the Constitutional Court verdict issued Thursday said constitutional amendments that were passed by Parliament in February went against secularism.

The head scarf issue is an explosive one Turkey, where the government is locked in a power struggle with secular groups that have support from the military and other state institutions.

The verdict is likely to bode ill for the government. Turkey's chief prosecutor is seeking to disband the ruling party because it is "the focal point of anti-secular activities" in a separate case at the Constitutional Court. He has cited attempts to allow head scarves at universities as a case in point.

Many see the head scarf as an emblem of political Islam, and consider any attempt to allow it in schools as an attack against modern Turkey's secular laws. Turkish Court Upholds College Head Scarf Ban >>> By Suzan Fraser | June 5, 2008

BBC:
Court Annuls Turkish Scarf Reform >>> | June 5, 2008

LE MONDE:
La Cour constitutionnelle turque annule un amendement autorisant le port du voile à l'université >>> | 05.06.08

DIE PRESSE:
Türkei: Kopftuch-Reform ist verfassungswidrig >>> | 05.06.2008

BBC:
Turkish Leaders Face Tense Summer >>> By David O’Byrne | June 5, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)

Muazzez Ilmiye Çig Condemns the Lifting of the Headscarf Ban
Photo courtesy of SpiegelOnline International
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: In a SPIEGEL interview, prominent Turkish archeologist Muazzez Ilmiye Cig discusses her country's move to lift the headscarf ban on college campuses and why she feels it represents a "step back" for her country.

Hardly any other issue is so divisive in Turkey as the headscarf. For some it is an expression of individual religiousness, while others see it as a declaration of war against the secular republic. The parliament in Ankara, which is dominated by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic conservative AKP, voted last Wednesday to lift the ban on wearing the headscarf at universities (more...).

On Saturday, parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve the two constitutional amendments. In lifting the ban, Erdogan made good on a campaign promise he had made five years ago. Leading up to the parliament's decision, tens of thousands of secular Turks took to the streets to express their support for keeping the ban. The amendments have been sent to the office of President Abdullah Gül, who is expected to agree to the changes.

In an interview with SPIEGEL, Muazzez Ilmiye Çig -- the 93-year-old doyenne of Turkish archeology, and one of Turkey's best-known opponents of the headscarf -- discusses the development and its ramifications for the secular nation. Headscarf Researcher Condemns Turkey's Move to Lift Ban >>> By Daniel Steinvorth in Istanbul

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Turkey Relaxes Headscarf Ban
YNET NEWS: Parliament approves two constitutional amendments that would lift decades-old ban in universities despite fierce opposition of secular establishment

Turkey's parliament on Saturday approved two constitutional amendments that would lift a decades-old ban on Islamic head scarves in universities, despite the fierce opposition of the secular establishment.

Parliament voted 403-107 in favor of the amendment that would insert a paragraph into the Constitution stating that everyone has the right to equal treatment from state institutions. The lawmakers voted 403-108 to approve the second and final amendment that says "no one can be deprived of (his or her) right to higher education," Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan said.

In predominantly Muslim Turkey, which seeks European Union membership, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party has channeled the frustration of devout masses, who feel excluded from the establishment, into political action. Turkey relaxes head scarf ban >>>

YNET NEWS:
Don’t wear veil abroad, Egyptian mufti says: Sheikh Ali Gomaa's remarks spark row in his country, other Arab states after stating Muslim women should not walk around with veils in foreign countries as it could cause a political problem >>> By Roee Nahmias

BBC:
Turkey eases ban on headscarves

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Turks Voting on Headscarf Ban

EL PAÍS:
Turquía aprueba definitivamente permitir el velo islámico en las universidades: El Parlamento turco acaba con décadas de prohibición del pañuelo musulmán, instaurada en aras de la laicidad

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Turks Set to Ease Headscarf Ban
BBC: The Turkish parliament is expected to amend the country's constitution to ease 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 says secularism means many girls are denied an education.

But the secular establishment, including generals and academics, sees this as a first step to allowing Islam to figure more largely in public life.

Opposition parties have vowed to challenge the changes in the constitutional court if, as is expected, they are passed on Saturday. Burka ban >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Turkish MPs Plan Headscarf Reform
Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Two major parties in Turkey say they will submit a joint plan to parliament to ease a ban on the Islamic headscarf in 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 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.

MHP leader Devlet Bahceli said the joint plan would be submitted to parliament later on Tuesday. Turkish MPs plan headscarf reform >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

’Angering the Secular Élite’: Turkey to Lift Headscarf Ban
’The photo that says it all’ courtesy of SpiegelOnline international
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Next week, the ruling Islamic conservative party in Turkey will likely succeed in lifting a ban on women wearing head scarves at universities. An end to the ban would infuriate secular elites, but please a growing conservative middle class.

Women at Turkish universities could soon show up in class wearing traditional Islamic head scarves, as the government moves towards lifting a ban on the practice.

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has its root in an Islamist religious movement, reached an agreement with an opposition nationalist party on Thursday to cooperate on legislation to lift the two decade-old ban.

"Agreement has been reached ... the issue of the head scarf was evaluated in terms of rights and freedoms," read a joint statement released by the AKP and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The two parties control enough seats in parliament to end the ban with a vote that could be held as early as next week.

A lift on the ban would anger Turkey's secular elite, who view the wearing of head scarves as a political statement aimed at undermining the nation's secular principles. Turkey to Lift University Head Scarf Ban >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)