Over 2,700 university professors have so far announced their endorsement of the declaration since it was first posted on a Web site on Friday by Professor İhsan Dağı and associate Professor Şaban Çalış. The number of signatories has been rising, but some have withdrawn their signatures, according to a report in the Star daily yesterday.
Dağı and Çalış confirmed this was indeed happening, although they did not specify how many signatures were withdrawn to protect the liberties of the academics that changed their minds after endorsing the document.
Dağı, who said the purpose of the declaration was to show that the number of academics opposed to the ban is not insignificant, says the declaration stresses that all ideologies and lifestyles should be free. He said many academics of varying political orientations had signed the declaration: "But our friends are under intense pressure. Still, the number of signatures we have been getting has been rising. They are all heroes."
Selçuk University's Çalış also confirmed that there were some professors who would like to see their signatures taken off the site. "There are instructors who say they would like to withdraw their signatures. We don't know who is applying this pressure. This could be from the university administration or it could simply be social pressure from colleagues. But I don't want to comment on who or how many retracted their signatures in order to avoid infringing on the rights of the instructors."
An academic whose father was an outspoken atheist and a prominent writer of Turkish literature has been facing pressure and even insults from the fiercely secularist segments of society for his support of the removal of the headscarf ban at universities.
Since he announced his support for Friday's declaration, Ali Nesin, a renowned professor of mathematics, has been subject to relentless verbal attacks by the camp defending the ban on the headscarf. Some have even accused him of betraying the legacy of his father, Aziz Nesin, a renowned writer who always made a point to publicly emphasize his atheistic values. Even his next of kin turned against him.
Nesin's brother, Ahmet Nesin, accused him on Sunday of setting up an alliance with "those who burned his father." Their father was attacked by a mob of religious fundamentalists at a Sivas hotel in 1993 during a festival; although Nesin survived the attack, 37 people died in the subsequent fire.
Nesin replied, "I doubt that anyone can be suspicious of my secularism as someone who has publicly announced his disbelief without fear, as someone who organized a conference against religious fundamentalism ahead of Feb. 28 [the date of an unarmed military intervention against an Islamist government in 1997] at a time when everyone was shivering with fear."
On Monday another brother from the Nesin family, Ateş Nesin, expressed support for Ali Nesin's endorsement of the removal of the ban. "People should be allowed to say what they believe even if that is wrong," Ateş Nesin said, expressing the opinion that his younger brother Ali did the right thing.
The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Monday responded to a demand by Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Zeki Sezer to postpone the voting process on the bill to allow headscarves at universities. Sezer, who met with members of the press after speaking with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he shared his party's opinion with the prime minister that the headscarf process should be suspended for now, until a broader compromise is reached at a later date.
Recalling a recent statement from Foreign Minister and EU chief negotiator Ali Babacan that "most of the ongoing debates [on the headscarf] in Turkey are unfortunately weakening Turkey's image abroad," Sezer said it would serve the unity of the nation to postpone the headscarf discussion to avoid the emergence of opposing camps in society.
AK Party parliamentary group deputy leader Bekir Bozdağ, however, replied in the afternoon, saying the government had no plans to postpone the vote on the headscarf bill. "Parliament is already discussing our new bill proposing amendments to constitutional provisions on equality and education," he said.
Meanwhile Erdoğan said his party was open to proposals to be put forward with regard to an amendment agreed by the AK Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) to make to Article 17 of the Higher Education Law allow female students wearing headscarves into universities. "The AK Party parliamentary group deputy chairmen are currently working on the amendment in question. If we receive a proposal from other deputies or political parties, we may take it up with MHP officials," he said. Asked whether his party has faced a problem with regard to the style of wearing the headscarf defined in the formula put forward by the AK Party and the MHP, Erdoğan said they do not have a problem with that point. Wearing the headscarf is defined as "covering the head with a headscarf fixed beneath the chin without covering the face so as to allow for easy recognition of identity" in the AK Party and the MHP's formula.
Academics against the ban
The declaration of academics against the headscarf ban states: "We, university instructors, have closely and with great concern been following recent discussions as well as years of policies regarding clothing and outfits. We believe that universities should take an approach favoring freedoms, not prohibitions, when it comes to fundamental human rights such as the freedoms of thought, expression, religion, belief and education. We want our universities to be remembered for the science that they engage in, as this is the worthy way for contemporary, civilized countries. We believe that as in every country, the freedom to dress in whatever way a person desires should be given to all of our students without discrimination on the basis of religion, belief, thought, race, ethnic group or gender, and demand that all implementation to the contrary be halted at once. We hereby announce this to the public with respect."
The Web site launchers make sure that the newcomers are indeed members of the academy before updating their numbers. The full list of confirmed academics supporting the headscarf can be found at http://www.universitedeozgurluk.blogspot.com.
Changes proposed by government
Female university students who wear the headscarf are currently not allowed into universities as such, but that could change as soon as this week with a bill likely to pass that includes measures to put an end to the ban.
Amid mounting opposition from the secular establishment, Parliament took up the bill yesterday to abolish the headscarf ban on university campuses.
A two-round vote is necessary for the constitutional amendments to go into effect. The first round will be held on Wednesday, the second round on Saturday. If less than 330 lawmakers vote in favor of the changes in the first round of the voting, the changes will be dropped.
Benzer Haberler 
National
