Headscarf ban stays in spite of amnesty

Istanbul

Turkey's parliamentary education commission has granted an amnesty for students banned from university for wearing headscarves. But the amnesty will only apply to students who agree to comply with a religious dress ban.

The country's ruling body for higher education has announced the first closure for failing to comply with the ban. The nursing college at Fatih University will close once current students have completed their course. The college, founded by Fetuallah Gulen, who was allegedly the leader of a secret Islamic sect, is said to have repeatedly ignored warnings.

The headscarf issue has divided the country, prompting violent demonstrations since the stricter enforcement of the ban began two years ago. Several hundred women students have been banned from studies for covering their heads in line with Islamic tradition.

Although 98 per cent of Turkey's population is Moslem, it has been a strictly secular state since the formation of the republic in 1923.

The cross-party parliamentary commission originally agreed to a proposal that would have lifted the ban completely. The rightwing members of the ruling three-way coalition government joined opposition parties to push through the unconditional lifting of the ban.

Following the intervention of the leaders of the coalition government, the decision was reversed within 24 hours, provoking opposition outrage. The religious Virtue Party stormed out of the commission.

The influence of the army is seen as a factor behind the reversal. The military is an ardent supporter of the secular state and retains a powerful influence on Turkey's politics.

Centre-right and extreme-right, parties, all sympathetic to the plight of the banned students, dominate the parliament. But a total lifting of the ban risks confrontation with the army.

The decision to keep the ban has been welcomed by secularists. Turkan Saylan of Istanbul University and head of the Society of Contemporary Living, said: "As Germany bans symbols of Nazism from schools and parliament... we have our own regulations that forbid the wearing of religious symbols in our universities. All countries have their own threats and must protect against them."

She added: "Women told me they ... feel free from their parents or religious groups who forced them to cover their heads."

However, Istar Gozaydin, an academic and member of the human rights group Helsinki Citizens Assembly, said: "Nobody has the right to force me to wear a headscarf and nobody should have the right to force someone not to wear a headscarf."

Politics books, page 34