No breakthrough for headscarf in Parliament yet

ANKARA

A parliamentary commission will continue to debate whether or not to renew Parliament’s internal regulations, including the dress code for lawmakers, until Dec. 2, amid ongoing discussions over whether or not lawmakers are able to serve in Parliament wearing headscarves.

However, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said there was no need for an amendment of the internal regulations and current conditions did allow deputies with headscarves to serve under the roof Parliament.

“There is no need for a change in regulations,” Erdoğan said, underlining that this was his Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) position. “Deputies [wearing headscarves] elected by the votes of the people can serve at Parliament. Our position is very clear in this regard. We have always been supporting it and we will continue to support it,” he said yesterday, ahead of his departure for Kosovo.

Erdoğan’s statement came as Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek met with the deputy parliamentary group chairs of all four political parties represented at the Parliament in order to address the very same issue.

The commission has decided to continue to work until Dec. 2 to finalize its unfinished task to change the entire regulations. It has so far agreed on 160 articles but needs to find compromise on the remaining 22 articles. Yesterday’s meeting did not specifically address the issue of the headscarf, although there are speculations that some AKP female lawmakers were considering attending the General Assembly wearing headscarves.