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Turkey Constitutional Court Rules against Muslim Head Scarves in Universities |
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The Turkish Constitutional Court issued a ruling Thursday (June 5, 2008) annulling the law, which allowed the wearing of Muslim head scarves in the country's universities.
The Court states that the law allowing the scarves was in contradiction with the secular foundations of the Turkish Republic.
The law came into being in February 2008 when the Turkish President Abdullah Gül signed the constitutional changes approved earlier by the Parliament, allowing the wearing of the scarves by the Turkish women in universities.
The changes were met with violent protests in defense of the secular Turkish state on part of large segments of Turkey's society.
The initiative for the changes came from the ruling Justice and Development Party with the wives of Gül and the PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appearing in public wearing the Muslim head scarves.
Wearing muslim head scarves has been increasing in Turkey during the past two decades where it is used as a political statement and view, rather then religious belief in most part; and it is believed that some financial aid is being provided for those who choose to wear them, which comes from some of the fundamentalist religious groups supported by some countries.
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