Headscarf Controversy in Turkey - Controversial Events

Controversial Events

• In 1968, a female university student, Hatice Babacan, refused to remove her headscarf and from then onwards, although there was not a uniformly applied ban, some problems began to arise for students wearing headscarves at universities.

• In 1998, a Turkish student was banned for wearing a headscarf at Istanbul University.

• In 2000, Nuray Bezirgan, a Turkish female student, wore a headscarf at her college final exams. A Turkish court sentenced her to six months jail for "obstructing the education of others". The European Court of Human Rights upheld the ban in 2004, saying the rules on dress were "necessary" and did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights. In October 2006, the European Court of Human Rights upheld the university ban again, rejecting a complaint filed by another Turkish university student.

• In May 1999, the ban on headscarves in the public sphere hit the headlines when Merve Kavakçı was prevented from taking her oath in the National Assembly because she wore a headscarf. She was the newly elected-MP of Istanbul of the pro-Islamist Virtue Party, and she refused demands to leave the building. The secular opposition members protested by chanting 'out' for 30 minutes, and the then prime minister Bülent Ecevit accused her of violating the principles of secularism. A state prosecutor investigated whether she might be put on trial for provoking religious hatred. She received much support from Iran, by the Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati and hundreds of women demonstrating in support of the deputy. A few months later her Turkish citizenship was revoked because she also held an American citizenship.

• In October 2006, Turkish president Ahmet Necdet Sezer refused to allow AKP politicians whose wives wore headscarves to a ball marking Turkish independence, saying it would "compromise" and undermine the secular state founded by Atatürk.

• In March 2009, Kıymet Özgür who wore the çarşaf (chador) was attacked by CHP members when she tried to get into an election bus of mayoral candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in Istanbul. It was later known she had disguised herself to test the party's new initiative.

• The CHP (Republican People's Party) is a Kemalist party, however, its then leader Deniz Baykal surprised supporters by allowing those who wear the çarşaf (chador) to become members of the party in late 2008. The surprising move was viewed as to attract conservative voters to the party. Some people criticised Baykal's move as betraying the heritage of the historical party.