Turkey puts end to decades-old headscarf ban in public sector

The two reforms were among a set announced by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last week. The package also included reforms to provide for education in one’s mother tongue at private schools; the restoration of the original names of villages, districts and provinces; and changes in the law on political parties, including the possibility of lowering the 10 percent electoral threshold for entering Parliament. There were also other, more specific rights for religious and ethnic minorities provided for, such as the return of the property of the Mor Gabriel Monastery, which had been seized by the state, to Syriac Christians.

The regulation that does not allow the wearing of headscarves while working in public service will remain in effect for judges, prosecutors and military personnel.

“A regulation that formally intervened in freedom of clothing and lifestyle – a source of inequality, discrimination and injustice among our people – has become history,” Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ said on his Twitter account on Tuesday.

source: todayszaman