Turkey to Lift Head Scarf Ban at Universities

Turkey is expected to do away with a 2-decade-old ban on women wearing head scarves at the nation’s universities as early as next week. The prospect alarms the country’s secular elite, who see the country on a slippery slope to Islamist rule, Der Spiegel reports. “The logic is one of fear,” explains the director of a Turkish think tank.

“If you allow the head scarf today" he says, "they will declare a Sharia state in 10 years.” Their opposition is a growing middle class that tends to be conservative and wants to be allowed  to practice Islam more freely. Two leading conservative political parties reached a deal yesterday to lift the ban, which discourages many devout Muslim women from enrolling in universities. (More Turkey stories.)