The prosecutor’s remarks came after Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli expressed support for relaxing the ban and promised that his party will lend support to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to achieve this. The MHP’s move has renewed hopes over a final solution to this long-standing problem. Zaman’s Mustafa Ünal evaluated the MHP’s move, saying he appreciates it for adopting a constructive role as an opposition party in resolving conflicts as this will be the second time the party has taken on a key role in the settlement of a conflict. During the controversial presidential election process last year, unlike the other opposition parties, the MHP attended the presidential vote, defusing a deadlock over the election of the 11th president. Responding to Erdoğan’s suggestion that the headscarf problem could be resolved by amending a single article with the support of the MHP, even if the Republican People’s Party (CHP) opposes it, the MHP came up with its own wording of a sentence that will supposedly solve the headscarf problem. “It is debatable whether the sentence that the MHP suggested could solve the problem. Yet, the party is taking a constructive step. It showed that it is in favor of a solution. The rest is easy. If there is a genuine desire, the headscarf problem can be solved,” he notes. According to Ünal, there has not been a more positive environment where the solution seemed so close. “The MHP has shown everyone how constructive an opposition party can be. Now, it is time for a solution,” states Ünal.
Star’s Mustafa Karaalioğlu states that the freedom to wear the headscarf has become a test of democracy today, not only for political parties but also for opinion leaders who frequently express support for the abolition of the headscarf ban. Yet he says such leaders take a step back when it comes to a solution due to concerns over inciting more tension and conflict over the issue. “They have to inform us; if a solution is not going to be found today, then when it is going to be found? There was tension yesterday [over possible abolition of the headscarf ban], there is still tension today. Then when will this problem ever be solved if they are concerned about avoiding tension?” he asks. Pointing to Erdoğan’s move, which was supported by the MHP for the solution of the headscarf ban, he agrees that the path to ending this problem has been opened. “A democratic will to end this problem has emerged from the periphery to the center, from the grass roots to the base. If people are going to block this path to the solution, this will mean that they are disregarding either democracy or the public,” claims Karaalioğlu.
Bugün’s Gülay Göktürk, a long-time opponent of the headscarf ban, appeals to those who call themselves democrats and asks them to lend their support to the abolition of this anti-democratic ban as their democratic identity requires. “The AK Party seems determined to solve this problem. It is the duty of those who call themselves supporters of democracy and freedom not to leave the AK Party alone in its just struggle. It is time for the opinion leaders and civil organizations to voice their support for the end of this ban,” she says. Speaking about the risk of the headscarf issue turning into a war between the AK Party and the CHP, she warns that our democracy would pay the cost of such a conflict.
