PanARMENIAN.Net

Turkish parliament allows hijab at university
07.02.2008 17:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ After a sometimes stormy debate, the
Turkish parliament has approved a government motion to
amend the constitution to allow women to wear hijab,
the traditional Islamic headscarf while attending
university.

The final vote was only taken early Thursday morning,
after a marathon 13 hour debate, with 401 deputies
supporting the motion and 110 opposed. However, the
motion still has to face a second round of balloting,
to be held on February 9, before it will clear the
parliament and be forwarded to President Abdullah Gul
for ratification.

The vote was to amend two articles of the
constitution, dealing with equality before the law and
the rights and duties of training and education.

During the debate, the opposition Republican People’s
Party (CHP) accused the government and the far right
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which supports the
amendments, of working to undermine the secular
principles of the Turkish republic.

CHP deputy Hakki Suha Okay said the amendments sought
to make the principle of secularism ineffective and
increase radical Islamic activity. `This step will
encourage radical circles in Turkey, accelerate
movement towards a state founded on religion, and lead
to further demands,’ he said.

In defense of the motion, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil
Cicek said the amendments would strengthen personal
freedoms in Turkey and lifting the bans on wearing the
headscarf at universities would remove concerns in
society.

`Every freedom demand should not be associated with
secularism. Such secularism would be an exploitation.
This nation is the strongest guarantee for
secularism,’ he said, NTV-turk repots