Alaş would arrive at school and take off her headscarf outside the building as Turkey’s headscarf ban applies to all schools and universities, public and private, and government buildings and public institutions.The Students’ Attitude Assessment Committee in the school criticized Alaş and tried to force her not to wear a headscarf outside school, something she refused to do. Even though Alaş had been removing her headscarf before she entered the school building, the committee claimed she had been wearing it inside and decided to penalize the student by removing her from her current school, transferring her to another one a long way from home. Necmettin Alaş, Alaş’s father, has filed a complaint.
İbrahim Gökdemir, the secretary general of the Human Rights and Freedom Association (HÜR-DER), said it was insulting behavior to remove a girl from school who wants to be there. Stating that the decision of the committee was neither judicial nor ethical, Gökdemir noted that France, regarded as the homeland of secularism, does not have a headscarf ban as in Turkey, underlining that nobody has the right to prevent girls wearing headscarves from attending school. Büşra Ayata was also among the girls who were forced to take off their headscarves. Ayata, also a middle school student, has been wearing a headscarf for approximately three years. Her father, Sezai Ayata, said the committee at his daughter’s school decided to send her to another school as they do not want students wearing headscarves. “The school’s management told me that my daughter does not need to come to school and that she should choose a dersane or cram school rather than a public school,” he stated, emphasizing the committee’s unethical decision.
