UN Finds Head Scarf Ban in University Unacceptable

Published: Sunday 23, 2005
zaman.com

The United Nations (UN) stressed that the ban of headscarf, which prevents many female students attending schools in Turkey is a cause of inequality.

UN officials have asked Turkish State Minister Guldal Aksit to clarify the issue. Aksit expressed that the issue would be solved through decisions to be taken by autonomous universities rather than the government.

Aksit submitted the state report related to the status of women in Turkey to the UN Committee Against All Discrimination Against Women which met on January 20th in New York. More than 300 non-governmental organizations led by Flying Broom forwarded a 'Shadow Report' to the UN. While Aksit brought the 'head scarf' issue to the agenda, non-governmental organizations did not mention about the headscarf with the reason, "The most important problem of women is violence. The headscarf issue concerns limited sectors."

Speaking of the meeting to Zaman, Aksit disclosed that members of the committee forwarded to him some questions. Members had noted that ban on the headscarf was unacceptable for the freedom of education and belief and Aksit had stressed that the ban caused problem for female students.

To the question "Does the prevention of headscarf-wearing female students from going to the school cause inequality in education?" Aksit replied that the headscarf is banned in secondary education and public areas by law, but that in universities, unlike many countries in the world, female students feel difficulty in having education due to their beliefs regarding headscarves. Refusing to acknowledge the existence of such an issue will not be realistic and there is still such a problem."

To the question of what the government thinks about the ban of the headscarf in universities, Aksit said, "Of course the solution to this problem should be decided by the universities which are autonomous. This is a problem that will be solved by the decisions and agreements to be taken by universities rather than the government."

Source:Zaman.com