Erdogan Eases Headscarf Ban as Kurds Say Reform Plan Falls Short
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan set out a reform program that includes a loosening of the ban on Islamic headscarves and omits key measures that the country’s Kurdish minority has demanded.
The measures, announced by the premier at a news conference in Ankara today, will allow women in government offices to wear headscarves, meeting a longstanding demand by supporters of Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted party. The country’s military, shorn of much of its political influence under Erdogan’s 11-year rule, had helped block previous efforts to ease the ban, on the grounds it would undermine Turkey’s secular principles.