A Pic of a woman supporting President Erdogan during a military parade (AFP / FILE PHOTO)
Ankara, Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has proposed a nationwide vote to guarantee women the right to wear the hijab in institutions, schools and universities in the country.
The topic is particularly important to President Erdogan, whose ruling party with Islamic roots lifted a long-standing ban on wearing the hijab in state institutions in 2013
The death of Mahisa Amini in Iran ahead of general elections in 2023 has made the hijab a hot topic of political debate in Turkey, posing one of the most serious challenges to Erdogan's two-decade rule in Turkey.
Erdogan always cites the lifting of the hijab ban as an example of how his party represents hardline Muslim Turks against secular parties.
Erdogan on Saturday hit out at the leader of the main opposition party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, saying, "If you have the guts, come lets put the hijab issue in a referendum. Let the country decide."
Kilicdaroglu is a main leader of the secular CHP, this party established by the founder of the secular modern Turkish republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
The hijab was at the center of a debate in the 1990s, but today no party proposes a ban in Muslim-majority Turkey.
News Source : Middle East Eye