Debate on head scarf ban continues in Turkey

Ankara: Turkey's lawmakers are debating on Wednesday on whether to allow female students to enter university campuses wearing Islamic head scarves.

Parliament will hold a first round of debate and voting on the government's proposed amendments to the secular constitution, which would remove the decades-old ban on the head scarf. A second and final round of voting is slated for Saturday.

The head scarf issue is a source of contention in Turkey and has divided the population among those who consider the ban an insult to religious freedoms of devout Muslims and those who fear removing the ban would erode Turkey's secular education system.

Military-backed secularists regard the head covering as a political statement and argue it has no place in schools. They also fear that lifting the ban at universities would pile pressure on female students to cover themselves up.

More than 125,000 people, mostly women, marched in Ankara over the weekend to denounce plans to remove the ban. University deans from dozens of private and state universities also gathered in the capital last week to show their opposition.