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Turkey May Lift Headscarf Ban

Constitutional reform would permit Muslim garb in universities

By Zach Samalin, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 21, 2007 2:39 PM CDT

(Newser) – A debate is raging in secular Turkey over the ban on headscarves that has resulted in Muslim women who don them being barred from universities since 1980. Now, PM Erdogan is considering drafting a new constitution with a less stringent dress code that has made many Turkish women hopeful—and many staunch secularists nervous, Der Spiegel reports.

"Freedom of religion and conscience is a part of democracy that cannot be neglected," Erdogan said this week. "The same applies to the right to obtain an education." Detractors see revoking the ban as a step toward Turkey's Islamization, leading to "separate classes for men and women," as one critic said. Erdogan has promised to let citizens decide in a national referendum.

[Images (6)]

[Videos (1)]

Emine Erdogan, the wife of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wearing an Islamic-style headscarf, looks toward cheering supporters of the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party, or AKP,... (Associated Press)

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul,right, and his wife Hayrunisa are seen during a meeting on the International Women's Day in Ankara in this March 8, 2005 file photo. Much of the controversy surrounding... (Associated Press)

Supporters of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, with a woman wearing a traditional headscarf, leave an election rally by MHP in Central Anatolian city of Tokat, Thursday, July 19, 2007. The question... (Associated Press)

Turkish Foreign Minister and presidential candidate Abdullah Gul, accompanied by his wife Hayrunisa Gul, greets Justice and Development Party supporters as they celebrate their election victory outside... (Associated Press)

A supporter of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, wearing a traditional headscarf, arrives for an election rally by MHP in Central Anatolian city of Tokat, Thursday, July 19, 2007. The question of... (Associated Press)

FILES-TURKEY-POLITICS-VOTE-GUL (Getty Images)

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Turkey May Lift Headscarf Ban