- Turkey’s president says his party may put constitutional amendments to protect women’s right to wear a headscarf to a referendum.
- Some see an attempt to outflank the opposition on a once-heated issue.
- Critics and opposition say the amendments’ true target is the LGBT+ community.
Turkey’s president said on Wednesday that his party may put constitutional amendments to protect women’s right to wear a headscarf to a referendum, in what some Turks see as an attempt to outflank the opposition on a once-heated issue.
President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party (AKP) clashed with the opposition on the issue as parties jockeyed for support ahead of next June’s presidential and parliamentary elections, with polls showing dwindling support for Erdogan’s government.
Other polls show that few Turks think about the Islamic headscarf anymore, while critics and the opposition say the amendments’ true target is the LGBT+ community.
The headscarf was once a source of great contention in Muslim but secular Turkey; the once-powerful secular establishment saw it as a symbol of radical Islam and a threat to the secular order. However, after the Islamist-rooted AKP’s 20 years in power, the question no longer sparked debate.
The secularist CHP, which has long opposed the wearing of headscarves in parliament and public offices, resurrected the issue last month with a proposal to enshrine the right in order to gain support from devout Turks.
In response, Erdogan raised the stakes and proposed a constitutional amendment to protect the family from what he called “perverse trends,” implying that he was targeting global same-sex marriage laws.
He said a referendum could be called if the bill did not receive support from the required 360 MPs in the 600-seat parliament. The AKP and its nationalist allies control 334 seats.
“We are prepared to take additional steps, including a referendum,” Erdogan told AKP lawmakers in parliament.
On Wednesday, the AKP met with three opposition parties, the largest of which, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said it would not support the amendments.
[embedpost slug=”turkey-moves-vessels-to-save-ukraine-grain-deal/”]
