Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, announced Thursday putting off its efforts to lift the ban on Muslim females' headscarves at educational institutions until the general elections of 2011.
The Islamic-rooted party adopted this decision amidst staunch opposition from the secular parties to the efforts which mainly aim to promote public liberties particularly the personal liberty, AKP's deputy chairman Suat Kilic told reporters here.
"The AKP has recently held consultations on the planned legislative reforms with the two major opposition parties - the liberal Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party," he noted.
The reforms include lifting the highly-controversial ban on headscarf wearing which was enforced in 1998. The ban is deeply divisive for the country's predominantly Muslim population where two-thirds of women, including the wife and daughters of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wear scarves.Erdogan's lobbying for the constitutional reforms faced uproar from the secular political parties and other institutions such as the judiciary.
Public Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya warned the AKP-led government against the move to unban scarves, saying that it runs counter to the provisions of the constitution.
Yalcinkaya also warned the secular parties against yielding to the government bid in this regard, thus prompting the parties to reconsider their earlier views.
The constitution was amended in 2008 to ease a strict ban at universities, allowing headscarves that were tied loosely under the chin. Scarves covering the neck were still banned according to a compromise reached by the AKP and the CHP.
The AKP aspires to a third term at helm through the coming vote based on its growing popularity and reformist platform.
The Islamic-rooted party adopted this decision amidst staunch opposition from the secular parties to the efforts which mainly aim to promote public liberties particularly the personal liberty, AKP's deputy chairman Suat Kilic told reporters here.
"The AKP has recently held consultations on the planned legislative reforms with the two major opposition parties - the liberal Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party," he noted.
The reforms include lifting the highly-controversial ban on headscarf wearing which was enforced in 1998. The ban is deeply divisive for the country's predominantly Muslim population where two-thirds of women, including the wife and daughters of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wear scarves.Erdogan's lobbying for the constitutional reforms faced uproar from the secular political parties and other institutions such as the judiciary.
Public Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya warned the AKP-led government against the move to unban scarves, saying that it runs counter to the provisions of the constitution.
Yalcinkaya also warned the secular parties against yielding to the government bid in this regard, thus prompting the parties to reconsider their earlier views.
The constitution was amended in 2008 to ease a strict ban at universities, allowing headscarves that were tied loosely under the chin. Scarves covering the neck were still banned according to a compromise reached by the AKP and the CHP.
The AKP aspires to a third term at helm through the coming vote based on its growing popularity and reformist platform.
eurasia review
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου