According to the print issue of the International Herald Tribune on Feb 8,
Lawmakers voted early Thursday to approve a constitutional amendment to allow women to enter universities wearing Islamic head scarves, a move that many secular Turks view as an attempt to impose religion on their daily lives.Well, I should think so!! Forcing women to choose between their religious beliefs and their education is completely and utterly unacceptable, first off. As it stands in Turkey, you can't study at university, or teach for that matter, if you are a religious Muslim woman who wears the headscarf. You either have to violate your religious beliefs, give up your educational career altogether in anything outside Islamic Law, or opt for a third choice: learning an entirely new language in order to study in another country.
Lawmakers voted 401 to 110 in a preliminary vote in favor of the government's proposed amendment to the Constitution. The government has defended its plan as a reform needed to give its citizens religious liberty and bring Turkey in line with European Union human rights guidelines.
A second, final round of voting was scheduled for Saturday. (AP)
I studied Arabic with a young Turkish woman in Jordan, who was studying to master the Arabic language in order to obtain a bachelor's level degree from the University of Jordan in Psychology. The route to higher education in her own country was closed to her, as she chose to wear hijab.
I view any policy that excludes women for wearing hijab as just as offensive and unacceptable as a policy that excludes women who do not. But fundamental personal religious freedoms aside, it can't possibly be in Turkey's best interest as a nation to encourage bright and ideological young people to leave and put down roots elsewhere for the sake of their education.
Aha! Here's a BBC article on the same topic.
According to it, two-thirds of women in Turkey cover their hair... that's a lot of people not allowed to attend college classes.
The government's plan to change the law has sparked large protest rallies by secular Turks, who want to defend the legacy of the modern state's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
They fear it may be a first step to eroding the secular system.
Yes! It's a slippery slippery slope, my friends. A SLIPPERY SLOPE! First your religious neighbor's daughter will attend classes with yours, and then there will be NO ALCOHOL SOLD ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY!!!!!! ANYWHERE!!!!!
