secular State in peril , they say:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Turkey-Head-Scarf.html?hp''You are not opening the door of freedom -- you are shutting it forever for the girls,'' fellow lawmaker Nesrin Baytok said. ''The heads of many girls are shaved by their brothers to force them to wear head scarves.''
But [Prime Minister] Erdogan says the ban was unfair to observant women. His government pledged to change the laws governing higher education to specify which head covering will be allowed on campus and to ensure that students do not attend class in full-length chadors or burqas.
''We will end the suffering of our girls at university gates,'' Erdogan, whose Justice and Development Party has ties to Islam, had said Thursday.
[...]
Islam and secularism have vied for dominance in the country since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded modern Turkey in 1923. He banned religious garb and changed the alphabet from the Arabic of the Quran to Latin. Secularism became a deeply ingrained ideology, with the military and judiciary as its key protectors.
Erdogan insists his party is loyal to Turkey's secular traditions. His government says the measure is aimed at expanding democracy and freedoms.
[ 09 February 2008: Message edited by: Geneva ]