Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has said that Erdoğan, instead of trying to find a compromise solution to the problem, had made a statement that undermined such efforts. Justice and Development Party (AK Party) leader Erdoğan, upon returning home to Ankara, declared that there was no need to wait for the new "civil" constitution and that the headscarf ban for university students could be solved if the two parties could agree on "a single sentence" to amend the existing Constitution. Bahçeli responded by proposing an addition to a clause of the current constitution which would open the way for the lifting of the headscarf ban on all except public employees. Responding to questions Bahçeli further said that he was for the lifting of the headscarf ban for all in principle, but that it was necessary to move "step by step" (Enis Berberoğlu, Hürriyet, Jan. 18).Turkey's headscarf ban, imposed (somewhat inconsistently) in public buildings and (strictly) for all students, does not rest on any law enacted by Parliament but on decisions by the Constitutional Court rigorously implemented in the aftermath of the Feb. 28, 1997 "coup lite" by the military that pushed the elected coalition government out of power. It was expected that the ban for university students would be lifted by the adoption of the draft "civil" constitution prepared by the AK Party government. It is not clear whether the rush to lift the headscarf ban in universities by amending the current Constitution was triggered by the unintentional statement made by the prime minister or a consequence of an implicit decision to further delay adoption of a new "civilian" constitution.
The essence of the problem is that Turkey is polarized on the issue of the headscarf ban. A broad majority believes that covering the head or (for others) all of the body except for one's hands and face is a religious duty and thus an integral part of freedom of religion and conscience for females who have reached the age of puberty. Those who coherently adhere to this point of view maintain that restrictions on the headscarf ban should be lifted in all contexts.
A sizable minority, on the other hand, strictly adheres to the official version of secularism which rests on state control of religion and restrictions on religious freedom, maintains that the wearing of headscarves in general subjects women to male dominance and reduces them to second-class citizens and that covering of all of the body except for hands and face in particular is essentially a political symbol of opposition to the secular regime. This sizable minority, represented mainly by the Republican People's Party (CHP), is strongly in favor of the preservation of existing bans. Those among them who coherently adhere to this point of view may be said to favor the ban to be implemented for all women in all contexts.
There is yet another group that consists of liberal-minded people (like myself) that has been arguing for a compromise solution to the headscarf ban controversy, which is so dangerously polarizing Turkish society. This group maintains that the headscarf ban can be preserved for public employees and for students who have not yet reached full age, but should be lifted for all the rest.
There appears to be a consensus between the AK Party and the MHP, who represent two-thirds of the electorate and two thirds of Parliament, to lift the headscarf ban for university students. The civilian and military bureaucracy, among whom a very authoritarian and dogmatic interpretation of Kemalist secularism prevails, however, is known to be opposed to even lifting the ban for university students. Some representatives for the judiciary have already made explicit their opposition. Amending the constitution, however, is strictly the business of Parliament. We may, therefore, expect that this ban, which surely discriminates against and constitutes a severe restriction to the right to education for women, to be sooner or later lifted if Turkey is to continue as a democracy.
Note: This weekly column will not appear for two weeks.
