The Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the leader of the Turkish opposition, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, to work on including the issue of the headscarf in the country’s constitution, instead of just proposing to pass a law that guarantees the freedom to wear the headscarf.
This came in a speech he delivered on Wednesday, during his participation in the meeting of the Parliamentary Bloc of the Justice and Development Party, AKP, in the Turkiye Parliament in the capital, Ankara.
Erdogan stressed that there is practically no such problem anymore thanks to the steps taken by the AKP governments, he said, “Today, the issue of the headscarf is no longer on Turkey’s agenda, thanks to our struggle and the arrangements we have made.”
Bugün Türkiye’nin gündeminde başörtüsü diye bir mesele, verdiğimiz mücadele ve yaptığımız düzenlemelerle hamdolsun artık kalmamıştır.
Geçmişte bu ülkede böyle utanç verici bir mesele yaşandıysa bunun tek müsebbibi Kılıçdaroğlu’nun temsil ettiği CHP zihniyetidir, faşizmidir.
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) October 5, 2022
He considered that the text submitted by the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) to Parliament as a bill aimed at not compromising the freedom to wear the headscarf “is far from solving the problem in the desired way.”
The Turkiye president addressed his speech to opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, saying, “If you are sincere in this proposal, come let us work to include the issue of the headscarf in the constitution.”
Kanun teklifimizi TBMM’ye sunduk. Bu meseleyi siyasilerin iki dudağının arasından kurtaracağız. pic.twitter.com/5UyaGNnn9c
— Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (@kilicdarogluk) October 4, 2022
Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned the credibility of the opposition leader, pointing out that the law could be easily changed, unlike the constitution.
The Turkiye president stressed that the issue of dress in general, and the headscarf in particular, is a natural right of citizens that does not require a law or a constitution.
Madem bu konuyu kendisi gündeme getirdi, öyleyse biz daha öte bir teklifle mukabele edelim.
Şayet Kılıçdaroğlu temel bir insan hakkı olan başörtüsü meselesini ülkenin gündeminden kati şekilde çıkarmakta samimiyse gelin, çözümü yasa değil anayasa düzeyinde sağlayalım.
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) October 5, 2022
The issue of the headscarf ban occupied an important place in public and political debates in Turkiye during the 1990s and 2000s.
The headscarf ban in Turkiye was first implemented extensively in the 1980s, but became stricter after 1997 when the military forced the conservative government to resign in an incident later dubbed a “postmodern coup” on February 28.
It was gradually lifted for students in universities after 2010, while the ban for public employees was lifted in 2013 and the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) changed the regulation on June 1, 2015, allowing female judges wearing headscarves to conduct hearings.
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