Headscarves rebanned in Turkey

[Devrim]

Hundreds of headscarved women protested Friday against a court ruling to cancel a reform which would have allowed students to wear the Muslim garment at university.

About 500 women demonstrated in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır after Friday prayers, and hundreds more in colourful headscarves chanted slogans in Istanbul.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=106652


Academics and legal experts widely see the Constitutional Court's decision to annul the law lifting the headscarf ban is likely to increase the possibility of the AKP's closure, although two cases are examined separately.

Turkey's AKP closure more likely with headscarf ruling

"The Constitutional Court's decision to annul the bill lifting the headscarf ban in universities also carries a critical place for the AKP's closure case that has been submitted to the same court," the Hurriyet daily reported on Friday...

Turkey's chief prosecutor, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, filed a lawsuit against the AKP with the Constitutional Court in March, claiming the party became the "focal point of anti-secular activities," and demanded 71 officials, including Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, be banned from politics for five years...

Ergun Ozbudun, a professor of constitutional law said that both cases are different and should be assessed separately, although the same judges are in charge of ruling on both cases.

"We now understood the judge's point of view after the headscarf decision. I will not be surprised if they also decide to ban the ruling AKP," he added.

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/turkey/9118785.asp?gid=231&sz=99076

It seems like the political struggle in Turkey is intensifying, and the Government will be banned.

Devrim

[spartan]

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

From what i have read on the situation in Turkey the government only wanted the wearing of headscarves to be optional for religious students and not mandatory for all (Which was what was being implied by the Secular opposition).

This would allow religious students to wear their religious clothing in universities (If they so wished) which the previous Secular government (Military) banned (Thus limiting people's choice and rights).

[Devrim]

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

It is a part of the ongoing struggle between the government and the army.

From what i have read on the situation in Turkey the government only wanted the wearing of headscarves to be optional for religious students and not mandatory for all (Which was what was being implied by the Secular opposition).[/quote]

True


This would allow religious students to wear their religious clothing in universities (If they so wished) which the previous Secular government (Military) banned (Thus limiting people's choice and rights).

It wasn't a military government which brought in the ban. It was Ecevit's coalition Government, led by the DSP (Democratic Left Party).

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[Devrim]

"Erdogan is trying to save his skin but it's too late," said Cengiz Aktar, a professor on EU affairs at Istanbul's Bahçesehir University. "The guy has been yielding to the demands of the establishment for weeks but they don't want to listen any more. He is considered an outsider and there are a lot of personal animosities. Many people in the old establishment simply hate him - they think he represents a sort of Antichrist.

"Even if he does survive, what then? This country's constitution was not designed for reform but to protect the state against its citizens. The era of reform is over."

Soli Ozel, an analyst at Bilgi University, said Erdogan was trying to prevent possible military intervention: "The whole aim of the closure case is to get Erdogan's head. But further polarisation doesn't suit the AKP's interests. It's much better to form a new party than be more confrontational and bring about a final clash - the ultimate form of which would be a military takeover."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/11/turkey.islam
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