The topic of women’s freedom to wear Islamic headscarves was formerly very hostile. However, on Wednesday, the government and the opposition in Turkey pledged to take legal action to reaffirm it. This is in anticipation of the elections that will take place next year.
The proposals were made as President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party and the opposition pressed for new political initiatives ahead of the presidential and legislative elections. That will be held next year, keeping an eye on polls that indicate the outcome is still uncertain.
The headscarf issue was a source of contention for years in Muslim nevertheless secular Turkey. It has since subsided as a result of changes pushed through by Erdogan’s AK Party (AKP) during its two decades in office.
Erdogan routinely criticizes the Republican People’s Party for its prior resistance to expanding headscarf freedoms. And he addressed the topic at length in a speech to AKP lawmakers in parliament on Wednesday.
