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ANKARA: Turkish President Abdullah Gul recently approved
constitutional amendments that allow Islamic head scarves at
universities.
The Law No. 5735 envisages amendments in
Articles 10 on equality and Articles 42 on right to education of the
Constitution.
Under the first amendment, last sentence of
Article 10 says, “State organs and administrative authorities
shall act in compliance with the principle of equality before the
law in all their proceedings and in benefiting from all public
services.”
The second amendment in article 42 on “Right
and Duty of Training and Education” adds a paragraph that “no
one can be deprived of his/her right to higher education for reasons
not openly mentioned by laws. The limits of the use of this right
will be determined by law.”
On February 9, the Turkish parliament voted
411-103 in a final vote and approved the constitutional amendments
aiming to lift a ban on female students wearing Islamic headscarves
at universities.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
and the conservative Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) that supports
the changes have the required two-thirds majority in the parliament.
The headscarf reform drew fierce opposition from
the secular establishment in the predominantly Muslim but secular
Turkey which has long forbidden Islamic headscarves at universities.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party
(CHP) did not have enough seats to hold off the measure but said it
would appeal to the Constitutional Court to try to cancel it.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the AKP and
the MHP have agreed that scarves should be tied loosely with a knot
beneath the chin, leaving the face exposed.
-- Xinhua
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