Headscarf ban could be lifted in military areas: Minister

ANKARA

Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz signaled that the headscarf ban on military areas could be lifted, according to the daily Milliyet.

Yılmaz said the Ministry of Defense is working on a regulation that will extend the freedom to wear a headscarf on military premises. The current regulation only allows women wearing headscarves to attend wedding ceremonies held on military premises.

“Apparently we need to work on the issue a little more,” Yılmaz said to a group of reporters, who reminded there are many complaints about the ban, although it is lifted in public institutions.

There are many complaints to the chief Ombudsman or the Human Rights Committee of Parliament, a reporter said, with the request to allow wearing headscarves at the entrance of military areas.

“If the time is right, it can be changed,” Yılmaz said.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced his government’s democracy package, including the lifting of a headscarf ban, on Sept. 30. He said his government would remove the headscarf ban for public servants in public institutions, except for judges, prosecutors, police officers and members of the army.

On Oct. 31, four female lawmakers wearing headscarves entered Parliament in a historic move in Turkey.

The attendance of veiled deputies in the General Assembly, some 14 years after the then Virtue Party (FP) lawmaker Merve Kavakçı was expelled from the parliamentary session, took place without any major protests.