Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Islamic headscarf returns to heart of Turkish political debate

Published 05/10/2022, 15:32
Updated 05/10/2022, 15:51
© Reuters. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his ruling AK Party (AKP) lawmakers during a meeting at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey October 5, 2022. Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

© Reuters. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his ruling AK Party (AKP) lawmakers during a meeting at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey October 5, 2022. Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

By Nevzat Devranoglu and Daren Butler

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's government and opposition both vowed legal steps to enshrine women's right to wear Islamic headscarves on Wednesday, restoring to the heart of political debate ahead of next year's elections an issue which once caused deep divisions.

The proposals came as President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party and the opposition pushed policy ideas before presidential and parliamentary elections next year with an eye on opinion polls which suggest the outcome is still in the balance.

The headscarf issue was for years a focus of fierce discord in Muslim but secular Turkey but ceased to be so after reforms pushed through by Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party (AKP) during its two decades in power.

But main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu unexpectedly revived the issue this week, announcing the planned legislation amid efforts by his secularist CHP party to reach out to devout Turks, among which the CHP has traditionally had little support.

Erdogan frequently targets the CHP over its past opposition to broadening headscarf freedoms and spoke at length on the issue in a speech to AKP deputies in parliament on Wednesday.

"Come and let's solve this, not just as a law but at the constitutional level," Erdogan said in response to the CHP, while insisting the issue had been resolved under his rule.

He did not elaborate but appeared to be suggesting enshrining in the constitution the right of women to wear the headscarf.

ELECTIONS LOOM

The moves come after recent polls put Kilicdaroglu, the likely opposition presidential candidate, ahead of Erdogan. A recent poll by the closely-watched Metropoll however showed the ruling alliance five points ahead of a main opposition alliance.

Kilicdaroglu gave a cautious welcome to Erdogan's proposal on Wednesday, saying: "If there is no cunning agenda behind it, of course, we are ready to give all kinds of support to your proposal on rights and freedoms."

Turkey's parliament lifted a ban on female students wearing the headscarf at university in 2008 in a move championed by Erdogan and which CHP lawmakers including Kilicdaroglu had sought unsuccessfully to block in the constitutional court.

© Reuters. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his ruling AK Party (AKP) lawmakers during a meeting at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey October 5, 2022. Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

The then-powerful secular establishment, including army generals, judges and university rectors, saw the headscarf as a symbol of radical Islam and a threat to the secular order.

In 2013, Turkey lifted a ban on women wearing headscarves in state institutions under reforms which the government said were designed to bolster democracy.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.