Turkey to lift ban on Islamic head scarf in universities

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Turkey's ruling party agreed with an opposition party on Monday to lift a decades-old ban on Islamic head scarf in universities of the mainly Muslim but secular nation. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party and the Nationalist Action Party said in a joint statement that the two parties agreed to make changes in the constitution and the Higher Education Law to allow female students wearing head scarves into universities. A possible change in the Constitution would need a two-thirds majority in the 550-seat assembly. The two parties have more than enough legislators for a constitutional change. "No one can be barred from her right to higher education because of covering her head," is part of the modification to the higher education code that the parties will propose, the statement said.