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Erdogan calls for hijab rights to be made constitutional

October 5, 2022 at 6:39 pm

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the 4th World Nomad Games in Bursa, Turkiye on September 29, 2022. [Murat Kula – Anadolu Agency]

Turkiye’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, criticised the main opposition party CHP’s proposal for the headscarf by reminding the past highlighting to change the Constitution to completely solve the problem.

Accusing CHP’s leader, Kılıcdaroglu, of ‘abuse’, Erdogan stated that the headscarf was no longer a problem, and that no one had a problem in public or schools.

Erdogan said, “If CHP is sincere, let’s amend the Constitution to completely solve the problem.”

Speaking at the parliamentary group meeting of his party, Erdogan said, “Since CHP brought the proposal, let’s respond with a further proposal. If Kilicdaroglu is honest and sincere in removing the headscarf issue from the agenda, let’s do the solution at the constitutional level, not the law.”

Since 2013, Turkish women who want to wear the hijab – the traditional Islamic headscarf covering the head and hair, but not the face – to civil service jobs and government offices have been able to do that; the Erdogan government has relaxed its decades-long restriction on wearing the headscarf in State institutions.

READ: Meet Turkey’s headscarf-wearing football club president