Turkey takes step to lift student headscarf ban

By Hidir Goktas

The secular establishment, which includes army generals, judges and university rectors, fears lifting the existing ban would undermine the separation of state and religion, one of the founding principles of the modern Turkish republic.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan says he wants to allow the headscarf at campus to boost religious and personal freedoms.

The amendment, sponsored by the Islamist-rooted ruling AK Party and the opposition MHP, is expected to be approved in a final round of voting on Saturday as both parties have more than the two-thirds majority in seats between them.

The ban was significantly tightened in 1997 when Turkey's army generals, acting with public support, ousted a government they deemed too Islamist.

(For a Faithworld blog on the headscarf debate please see: http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2008/01/31/turkish-tempers-f lare-as-headscarf-reform-nears/ )