Head scarf ruling looms in Turkey

ANKARA: The Turkish Constitutional Court is expected to deliver its verdict Thursday on an opposition move to keep head scarves off campuses, in a ruling that could have serious implications for the future of the government.

A ruling against the government, which campaigned to lift the ban, could indicate that the court will also rule against the government in a separate case on whether to shut down the governing party for abandoning secular principles.

Turkish commentators were predicting Wednesday that the court would rule against the government and reinstate a ban on Islamic head scarves in universities. The issue is an explosive one in Turkey, where the Islamic-oriented government is involved in a power struggle with secular groups that have support in the military and other state institutions.

Some observers believe that the court will say head scarves can be allowed in universities only if constitutional articles related to secularism are amended. Such a decision would signal defeat for the government because it would face vigorous opposition if it sought to change the concept of secularism in modern Turkey.

"I don't think the court will rule any differently than it did in 1989," said Ali Tekin, a lecturer at Bilkent University in Ankara, referring to a previous ruling that upheld the ban on Islamic head scarves at universities. "It will not open the doors to head scarves."

At the time, the court ruled that the head scarves violated secularism.

A ruling upholding the ban would give "a strong negative indication concerning the party's closure," Tekin said, referring to the governing Justice and Development Party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The chief prosecutor in Turkey is seeking to disband Erdogan's party on grounds that it is "the focal point of anti-secular activities." He has cited attempts to allow head scarves at universities as a case in point.

"If the court upholds the appeal by the opposition CHP, it will strengthen the prosecutor's case against the ruling party to shut it down," said Semih Idiz, a prominent Turkish columnist, referring to the Republican People's Party. "The prosecutor's case rests heavily on the head scarf issue."

The governing party denies the charges of Islamist activities, asserting that they are an effort by arch-conservative opponents to dislodge a government with a large parliamentary majority.

In February, Parliament passed constitutional amendments abolishing the ban and allowing head scarves. The secular opposition immediately appealed the ruling to the top court.

Most proponents of the ban see the head scarf as an emblem of political Islam and consider any attempt to allow it in schools as an attack against secular law.

Opponents of the ban say wearing of the head scarf is a matter of free expression and religious freedom.

Though predominantly Muslim, Turkey was founded as a secular state in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

A powerful elite of military, judicial and academic officials regard themselves as the custodians of secularism, and the army removed a party from power as recently as 1997 on accusations of Islamist activity.

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