KEY POINTS:
Turkey's parliament approved in a first round of voting yesterday an amendment to the constitution permitting women students to wear the Muslim headscarf at university, a measure opposed by the secular elite.
The secular establishment, which includes army generals, judges and university rectors, fears lifting the existing ban would undermine the separation of state and religion, one of the founding principles of the modern Turkish republic.
The amendment is one of the most significant moves on religious freedoms in predominantly Muslim but secular Turkey since a military coup in 1980 that led to a crackdown on individual rights.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan says he wants to allow the headscarf at campus to boost religious and personal freedoms.
The amendment is expected to be approved in a final round of voting on Sunday.
Those opposed to lifting the ban see the headscarf as a symbol of their worst fears that Turkey could eventually slide into Islamic sharia law as practised in neighbouring Iran.
- REUTERS
