Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
Wire Service: AP
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20080202-0956-turkey-headscarf.html
Some 125,000 Turks, mostly women, denounced the government on Saturday over its plans to lift a decades-old ban on Islamic head scarves at universities in the mainly Muslim but secular nation.
Many Turks, including the country's influential military establishment, see the move as a serious threat to the country's traditional separation of church and state. The government has defended its plan as a reform needed to give its citizens religious liberty and bring Turkey in line with European Union human rights guidelines
“We want to lift all ridiculous bans in Turkey; we want everyone to freely walk and receive education, either with their miniskirts or head scarves,” said Egemen Bagis, a close aide to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is a devout Muslim.