Turkey set to drop university headscarf ban

Turkey set to drop university headscarf ban

By Vincent Boland in Ankara

Published: January 25 2008 02:00 | Last updated: January 25 2008 02:00

Turkey was last night braced for moves to end a controversial ban on women wearing headscarves at universities after the government won the support of a key opposition party for the move, which is likely to enrage the country's secular establishment.

The governing Justice and Development party (AKP), which has its roots in political Islam, struck a deal with Turkey's nationalist opposition party to lift the constitutional ban on the headscarf on campus.

Proposals to change the constitution are expected in the next few days. These would then go to a vote in parliament, where the two parties can muster enough MPs to change the constitution.

Although polls show a large majority of Turkish citizens oppose the ban, the move is causing deep anxiety. Many Turks fear that lifting the restriction would represent a big shift in the country's self image. Deniz Baykal, leader of the opposition Republicans, predicted "a major constitutional crisis".

The headscarf ban was introduced after a military coup in 1980 and has been enforced at state universities with varying degrees of zeal by the higher education board, a key institution in the safeguarding of Turkey's founding secular ideals.

"The issue is a bleeding wound in higher education [and] has to be solved," said the AKP in a joint statement with the Nationalist Action party.

The two parties have set up a commission to study amendments to the constitution, which was drafted under military supervision and introduced in 1982.

Arzuhan Dogan Yalcindag, chairman of Tusiad, the business lobby, accused the government of ignoring other difficulties caused by the headscarf in Turkish society, such as community pressure on girls to wear it against their will. She said the country had far more serious issues to address.

The military, which clashed with the government last year over issues that included the headscarf, is sure to make its position known. It regards the headscarf as a political symbol. Some analysts fear a confrontation could unsettle financial markets at a time of global volatility.

The government's decision to pursue the issue via a constitutional amendment raises questions about its commitment to adopting a new code, a promised centrepiece of its reform agenda in its second term.

Ibrahim Kalin, head of the Seta think-tank in Ankara, said that, if the two parties could agree on the issue, "the urgency of a new constitution will go away, but it will also allow for greater emphasis on civil liberties in any new constitution without the distraction of the headscarf".