The campaign manifesto named “Feb. 28 cannot last for a thousand years” and which can be viewed at http://28subat1000yilsuremez.blogspot.com/, invites the support of everyone who agrees that “we don’t want women to be humiliated and annoyed or have their rights taken away from them just because of their clothes in this country.” The current headscarf ban is a product of the military coup instigated on Feb. 28, 1997, through which the coalition government of the time was forced to step down. Former Chief of General Staff Gen. Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu, who served in that post for four years, claimed in 1998 that the Feb. 28 process would last for a thousand years.
Almost 10,000 signatures have been collected so far. A total of 104 civil society organizations focused on various issues have backed the campaign as entities, too. Among the participants in the campaign are well-known politicians, academics, artists, journalists, and businessmen. Singers Sezen Aksu, Rojin, Ferhat Tunç, rock star Teoman, Felicity Party (SP) leader Numan Kurtulmuş, Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy Abdurrahman Kurt, professors Ahmet İnsel, Baskın Oran, Halil Berktay and Murat Belge were some of those who joined the long list of supporters.
AKDER Secretary-General Neslihan Akbulut said the most adverse affect of the Feb. 28 coup is the headscarf ban, which was not only constrained to universities and schools but spilled over to every political and societal area. “Disregarding the fact that a headscarved woman cannot be elected as a deputy, these people are unable to petition the municipality about a garbage problem on their street,” she exclaimed.
A similar campaign against the headscarf ban was initiated in 2008 among intellectuals and received more than 2,000 signatures from academics around the country. A constitutional amendment was made the same year with votes in favor from 411 deputies in the 550-member Parliament, but it was later overturned by the Constitutional Court.
