Ankara –(IINA)Febuary 03– Turkey must lift a ban on headscarves at university as part of democratic reforms aimed at European Union accession, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said yesterday. Turkey’s parliament is expected to approve a constitutional amendment next week sponsored by the ruling AK Party aimed at easing the ban for university students. “Turkey is a country which has to make political reforms to achieve the strategic goal of full membership in the European Union, which it has chosen,” Babacan told a news conference. France as well as some colleges in the Netherlands ban headscarves, while Britain and many other EU members allow the headscarf in the name of civil liberty. Turkey’s government wants to expand freedoms to turn Turkey into a “first-class democracy where freedoms in all fields are enjoyed fully”, Babacan said.
The headscarf debate is central to Turkey’s complex identity, as the young democracy struggles to meet the demands of both a pious Muslim population and also a secular, pro-Western elite that sees Islam as backwards. The EU has pressed Turkey to boost freedom of expression and minority rights but has no position on the headscarf issue, according to Reuters. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan sought yesterday to soothe secularist fears that lifting the ban would over time lead to heavy pressure on uncovered women to wear the headscarf.
“We are calm. Everyone is doing their duty and nobody should be disturbed by this. Here I see headscarved women as well as uncovered women. This is Turkey which we desire to see,” Erdogan told a gathering of his party. Babacan also said the furor on the headscarf issue and rising tensions taint Turkey’s image. “Unfortunately an important part of the debate going on in these days is weakening Turkey’s image abroad,” he said.
HA/IINA
03 Feb 2008