Turkish students will be allowed to wear the veil in universities if a constitutional reform currently being debated by parliament is agreed.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK) and the opposition Nationalist Action Party (MHP) have between them enough MPs to amend the constitution that was first written after a coup by the secularist military in 1980. The constitutional amendments are expected to be sanctioned by a final vote on Saturday.

There have been demonstrations against the change and a petition has been signed by more than a thousand university staff. “The aim is to erode the principle of secularism in the constitution,” said Kemal Anadol, spokesman for the main Opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), at the start of the debate.

The amendment would make it illegal for anyone to be deprived of an education for any reason not officially stated by the law. Although the wearing of the headscarf by university students is not specifically prohibited, individual rulings by secularist institutions and precedent set by court cases in effect prevent many women students from completing their studies if they refuse to go unveiled.

The Government has argued that this is a form of sexual discrimination and the denial of a basic human right. The present restrictions, however, have the backing of a European Court of Human Rights ruling. Hayrunnissa Gul, wife of President Gul, once took Turkey to the European Court of Human Rights because she could not study. The daughters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister, study in the United States, where their head covering is not an issue.

Those who are determined to study but cannot travel abroad have either removed their headscarves on university grounds or covered up with a wig.

Modern Turkey was founded on secular principles by Kemal Atatürk and there have been many restrictions on overtly religious clothing. After an Islamist government, whose members included Mr Erdogan and Mr Gul, was ousted in 1997 many veiled students complained of hostile treatment. Mr Erdogan and Mr Gul claim that their present party is conservative rather than Islamist and that their landslide election victory last July was thanks to large numbers of nonreligious voters rewarding their economic successes.

Their opponents are concerned that this vote is the first step towards promoting an anti-secular agenda. They fear that conservatives will gain support for good government and then introduce religious legislation.

The secularists, who have dominated public life in the past, believe that increased acceptance of the headscarf will lead to social pressure on those who do not wear it. They fear a further lifting of restrictions on public servants wearing the garment.

The forbidden veil:

— In September 2004 France banned religious symbols and clothing in state schools

— In Germany policy on headscarves is a matter for individual states. Seven of the country’s 16 states have banned teachers in state schools from wearing them

— While Britain has no official policy, Jack Straw angered Muslim groups in Britain in 2006 by saying that women who wear a Muslim veil make community relations “more difficult”

— In Singapore in February 2002 four Muslim school girls aged 6 to 7 were suspended for ignoring a hardscarf ban in state schools

Source: Times Archive, agencies

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